THREAD IS CLOSED!!! Ask Rande 6000+ USE NEW THREAD

Top 2. May 10, 2000 9:01 AM

» Rande - Liz,

Liz,

Here's the lowdown from the horse's mouth:

VTSMX

Aside from the top-10 holdings shown, you need to get the latest report from the fund to drill down to the individual security level. A recent report from Wilshire's own "total market" fund had LRCX at about 2.25bp of the total (around 2/100s of one percent). Insignificant in the grand scheme of things, BUT...keep in mind that the W5000 is currently weighted around 33% to technology (maybe a little less if the current sell-off keeps up). Also, keep in mind that the Nasdaq alone accounts for about 70% of the W5000 companies and around 44% of its market cap (quite a "sector," isn't it?).

Here's more info on the W5000:

W5000

-- posted by Rande

Top 3. May 10, 2000 9:02 AM

» Rande - Sorry.

Sorry...meant Lisa, not Liz. ;)

-- posted by Rande

Top 4. May 10, 2000 9:09 AM

» lp061574 - Thanks

Jen & Rande:

Thanks!!

-Lisa (or Liz, if you prefer)

-- posted by lp061574

Top 5. May 10, 2000 9:17 AM

» Rande - Interesting Q&A with one of a number of voices who question the

Interesting Q&A with one of a number of voices who question the need for more rate hikes:

Enough, Al

-- posted by Rande

Top 6. May 10, 2000 11:55 PM

» rich_hine - Is this a good time to rebalance?

Rande:

Is this a good time to rebalance a portfolio?

I'm looking at selling some of my large cap growth funds from Janus (Janus Fund, Worldwide, Growth & Income and Twenty) and buying a total stock market fund.

Would this be considered a sideways move that I can make at any time? (I'd be reducing the p-e ratios on my equity funds from 1.25 market level to 1.0).

Should I rebalance automatically, and not try to time the market?

Or, because of market weakness, should I dollar-cost-average over several months from "high p-e ratio" funds into "market p-e ratio" funds?

I'd do it in tax-deferred accounts, so there are no tax consequences.

I've deferred rebalancing because I don't like to sell funds, and I don't like to sell into market weakness.

But if not now, when?

- Richard

-- posted by rich_hine

Top 7. May 11, 2000 12:20 AM

» JenL_2 - Selling Funds

Hi Rich - I'll leave your question for Rande to answer, but I wanted to tell you what I do. When selling a fund I always leave a few $$ in the the fund, the foot in the door so to speak, so if at some later date, I want to start buying that fund again, don't have to start over with the minimum balance. This is doubly important with funds like Janus 20 and Janus WW, which are closed. Of course, if I really "hate" a fund then I sell it outright 100%. That's just the way I do it....don't know if it's a good stategy or not. My portfolio gets left with a lot of "stragglers" this way, so maybe it would be better to just sell the funds outright.....Jen

-- posted by JenL_2

Top 8. May 11, 2000 4:31 AM

» wcwiii - Index investing

Back to Lisa's question (by the way, I found Lam Research on the fifth page of stock holdings of 29 pages in Vanguard's Total Stock Market Index Fund Statement of Net Assets of Dec 1999 -- At that time, it did comprise only 0.027% of the fund).

My question is whether Rande has an opinion in investing in index funds that either are or are not weighted by market cap. Correct me if I am wrong, I remember the W5000 is weighted whereas the Russel 3000 is not and yet both are "total stock market". SP500 is weighted -- is there an SP500-like index that is not weighted? Last years strength in the SP500 in particular was due mostly to the strength of the few largest holdings. Maybe the SP500 is not as diversified as one would like?

-- posted by wcwiii

Top 9. May 11, 2000 5:37 AM

» Rande - April numbers released today:

April numbers released today:

Retail sales -.2% (.4% expected)
Import prices -1.6% (-.2% expected)

Stunning.

PPI tomorrow -- -.2% expected overall, +.1% expected at the core

<img src=http://www.internetcount.com/1867857677.cgif width=5 height=5>

-- posted by Rande

Top 10. May 11, 2000 5:54 AM

» Rande - Rich,

Rich,

Typically, once or twice a year should do it for rebalancing the asset allocation. We've discussed here that the market's behavior between last Oct and this March was such that a little more attention might have been in order -- one of the greatest short-term rises in stock market history. For example, from the last week in Oct to the first week in March, QQQ was up 81.3%, with around 60% of that gain coming in the last couple of months of 1999 and a little over 40% of the gain coming in the first three months of 2000. At the time, we talked about continuing to rebalance given the nealy parabolic rise in so short a time. Ideally, the rebalancing of the asset allocation serves to automatically sell high and buy low, as assets that have appreciated beyond their weighting are sold with the proceeds reinvested in assets that have performed less well. Of course, such rebalancing can also take place in an overall negative environment where different asset classes perform better only on a relative basis. Another way to accomplish the rebalancing is by adding new money to underrepresented asset classes, or taking cash out living needs by selling some appreciated assets -- variations on a theme depending on the circumstances.

A shift from one stock fund to another for performance, tax and/or expense reasons, within the same general sub-asset class, shouldn't be considered a matter of timing. I would think just about any time would do, especially where capital gain taxes are not a consideration.

-- posted by Rande