Looks like I may have made a mistake buying the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) ranther than Vanguard's VWO. According to this article, VWO has more diverse holdings, a better track record, and lower expenses. I won't bother getting out of EEM right now due to commissions, especially since it's moving up nicely at the moment, but if I ever want another chunk, I should probably think VWO instead.
I received news of an unexpected windfall today which will allow me to contribute 2005's fourth and final thousand by the end of the week. So I've got to start thinking about what stock to put that chunk into. Since I won't be buying another Hidden Gem until September (to allow me to hold each for at least a year), I'm thinking NASDAQ index (QQQQ). If Jim Cramer's right and there's a summer tech rally ahead combined with an overall bull market, this is probably a good place to be. I could also pick a tech sector ETF, such as Vanguard's VGT. This will probably be a fairly short-term holding, 2-4 months at most..
I closed up $63.19 today for a total of $6857.79. Five of my six holdings were up, led by SHLD at +$2.17, EEM at +$0.88, and TOL at +$0.63 (PXR was down 21 cents, BBBB basically balanced it out by moving up a quarter). I'm within spittin' distance of my first "earned" chunk of investment capital.
(As a reminder, my chunk, or "dose" as Russ Towne likes to call it, is $1000 -- I invest about this much in each stock I buy. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less, depending on what I'm trying to do with my cash position. My last purchase, SHLD, I only bought $900-ish of since I'm trying to build a little more of a cash position to eventually get that extra chunk.)
Posted by kindall at July 12, 2005 05:49 PM