Sunday, February 27, 2011

Brief Video by Folio Institutional CEO Steven Wallman

Click on the Video Spotlight Icon to view a brief video by FOLIOfn Institutional CEO, Steven Wallman, about the unique benefits of using  Folio Institutional as the custodian for your accounts.

Friday, February 25, 2011

S&P 500 Line in the Sand

For the last 10 years the S&P 500 1,300 level has acted as both key support and resistance. If the index can stay above the 1,300 level we could expect a continued rally to the upside. If the index fails to hold at the 1,300 level we should expect a further move to the downside (market correction).



Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Blog Blackout Period

Periodically the Gerritz InSights blog is restricted to clients only. The blog will resume after a short blackout period. During "Blog Blackout Periods" GWM clients receive important market commentary via email.



Monday, February 21, 2011

Crude oil, gold and silver ramping up

As tensions in Libya grow crude oil, gold and silver are ramping up while stock market futures are down.





Saturday, February 19, 2011

High Yield Bonds vs Long-term US Treasury Bond Performance

The 20 year + US Treasury bond peaked in December 2008. Since that time it has declined more than 20% in value. Well, so much for the safety of government bonds. These bonds are yielding around 4.7%

High Yield (junk bonds) bottomed in March of 2009. Since that time High Yield bonds as represented by JNK (high yield bond etf) have appreciated 97.55%. High Yield bonds are yielding around 7%.


Investors are still embracing high yield bonds, consequently they continue to enjoy a low volatility uptrend. The GWM fixed income risk management program has proven to be very effective in the past and I have no reason to doubt it's effectiveness going forward.  Should the trend change our risk management system will provide a timely exit signal.

After such a large decline, the long US treasury bond may be getting closer to bottoming out. It may be due for a bounce. If the stock market were to begin a correction, I would want to own the long treasury at these levels.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Special Market Update 02 17 11


The old market axioms, "Don't fight the tape' and 'don't fight the Fed" are proving themselves to be good advice as the market slowly grinds higher. All of the GWM Model Portfolios continue to benefit from the markets gradual rise. After a period of consolidation precious metals and oil are now breaking out.

Click on the silver bar icon below to see why I have turned bullish on gold, silver and oil.


GWM Website Update

Th GWM Holdings details link has been relocated to the [Clients] tab.

(Click on image for easier viewing)





Wednesday, February 16, 2011

GWM Holding Details Page password has been reset.

The GWM Holding Details Page password has been reset. All clients will receive an email with the updated password. Please make a note of this password for future reference.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Skyrocketing Food Prices

Food prices have soared around the world.


In Asian and Latin American countries food expenditures represent a much higher percentage of incomes than they do in the U.S..


Higher food prices will likely be the source of continued turmoil in the middle-east and emerging economies. I believe that emerging markets should be avoided at the moment.

GWM Model Portfolios now have very limited exposure to foreign and emerging market holdings.


Saturday, February 12, 2011

GWM Clients Are Always Exempt from Paying Commissions (LOADS) on any Mutual Fund Purchases.

A big advantage of being a Gerritz Wealth Management, Inc. client is that you are exempt from ever paying  a commission (otherwise known as a sales load) on the purchase of any mutual fund.

Many load funds carry back-end sales charges in lieu of front-end loads. These fees are referred to a contingent fees or backend sales charges. GWM clients are also exempt from paying these charges.

GWM has the advantage of being unrestricted in the selection of the best mutual funds, whether no-load or load; our clients simply will never be subject to paying a sales load of any kind.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Market Comment 02 11 11


Egypt's Mubarak resigns.

All market sectors rallied with the exception of energy and utilities. Oil price retreated as tensions in Egypt were reduced.



Thursday, February 10, 2011

Markets are showing some weakness

Market breadth has weakened. As illustrated in the chart below, the percentage of stocks above their 50 day moving average is declining. This means that as the market averages have moved higher there is less participation by the average stock in the S&P 500. The field of leadership stocks is narrowing.

Black line  = S&P 500
Red line    = Percentage of stocks above their 50 DMA



This morning I did trim back on some of our positions that have been showing relative weakness, namely energy and materials.

Monday, February 7, 2011

IMPORTANT! 2010 Form 1099 Delivery Schedule

Shareholders Service Group (Pershing) will mail out 1099s on Feb 15th.  I will mail out Pershing cost basis reports later this week.

Folio Institutional will post 1099's in your online filing cabinet on Feb 28th. Folio cost basis reports will also be posted on the 28th.
 
Some of you will receive tax docs from both brokerage firms; so hold off on doing your tax returns until  you have all the necessary docs.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Friday, February 4, 2011

Folio Institutional Cost Basis Reports and 1099s

Folio Institutional Cost Basis Reports and 1099s will be posted in your online account filing cabinette on Feb. 28, 2011. These important tax forms are not physically mailed to you. You will have to log into your account to get your tax docs. Just click on the tax year 2010 in the tax document section to access the forms and docs you want to view. Then, either print them out or email them to your tax preparer.

I will post instructions on accessing your Folio filing cabinette and printing your important tax docs in about one week.  Call or email me if you have any questions.

Steve

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Market Comment 02 01 11

The market started off February with a bang. Fully disregarding the trouble in Egypt the market surged ahead.


If the market was going to correct it had it's opportunity with the Egyptian turmoil. The Dow managed to close above the 12,000 mark and the S&P 500 closed above the key 1,300 point. These levels had previously acted as strong resistance. The uptrend has once again resumed.

I have been in the process of repositioning accounts to take advantage of the new leadership that is emerging. I will cover this further in the forthcoming issue of The Gerritz Letter.