The “Top Ten Stocks” for the week of August 29th and access to the “Creme & Sour” lists are available through Premium Content.  There are several changes this week included a new stock that leaped to the top of the list.

Now that August is nearly over, MVO data and portfolio updates will begin to show up over the next ten days.  In addition, look for a new Power Point presentation on Asset Allocation.  This is presentation I will be giving at a Blue Plate Special on September 4th.

Premium Content available for $6.99 per month.

Lowell Herr

Photograph:  Northern edge of Kauai, Hawaii

Now move on and type in the ticker, JNJ.  When I looked at this graph, the blue line has a positive slope and there are X’s in the right-hand column.  I call this a “Bull” PnF graph and the best one can find.  If the graph is blue or has a positive slope and O’s are in the right-hand column, the stock is coded as Bull-O.  This means the overall ranking is positive, but the price is beginning to drop.  I would rather see a Bear-X than a Bull-O graph.  A Bear-X is a stock with a red or negative slope for the graph, but X’s in the right-hand column.

Getting back to the “Creme List” of stocks, I went through the 140 plus stocks I track and checked every stock that had a PnF rating of “Bull.”  Most of those stocks, due to the major downward move in the market, turned from “Bull” to “Bull-O.”  When this happens, it shakes up the ranking system and that is why I expect to see changes this week in the “Creme List” and “Top Ten Stocks.”

These lists should be published sometime tomorrow over on Premium Content.

Lowell Herr

Photograph:  National Air & Space Museum

As we come nearer the weekend, it is time to run through all the portfolios to see how well they are performing with respect to their benchmarks.  Don’t expect much and here is the reason.  Since January 20, 2001 through September 10, 2008, the SPY (S&P 500 ETF) gained a paltry 3.5%.  That is not the annual gain.  That is the total gain over nearly eight years or well below 1% per year.  This is one of the worst eight-year market records in decades.

Portfolios launched this year had a significant headwind to buck.  Most of the seven portfolios tracked on this blog are defeating their benchmark, but the absolute numbers are not great.  This is to be expected considering the miserable market over the last eight years.

The “Creme & Sour” lists will be posted this weekend as well as a list of the “Top Ten Stocks.”

Asset allocation still works and the variety of portfolios demonstrate this.  If other readers find asset allocation works, I would like to hear from you in the comments section of this blog.

Lowell Herr

Portfolio reviews, “Creme & Sour” lists, and “Top Ten Stocks” will be available via Primium Content.

The “Creme & Sour” lists are now available for the week of 9/26/08.  The “Top Ten” should be available early next week.

Lowell Herr

• CSCO
• FAST
• EXPD
• PAYX
• PG
• MSFT
• MMM
• QSII
• WAG
• CTSH

Comparing this list with those of past weeks, you will note that the market volatility has not altered the list all that much.

This is only a list of interest and you should do your own analysis.  The “Creme List” spreadsheet is also available for downloading.

Lowell Herr