Comments on: The 2007 Sleepy Portfolio Report Card

By: Sleepy Portfolio: Low-Cost, Low-Maintenance, Tax-Efficient, ETF Portfolio | Canadian Capitalist

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:14:23 +0000

[...] 2005, the Portfolio was up 12.9%. In 2006, the Portfolio had another stellar year and was up 14.7%. In 2007, the Portfolio returned a minuscule 0.2%. In 2008, the Portfolio had a bad year, losing -19.9%. In 2009, the Sleepy Portfolio returned [...]

By: David

David — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 05:34:25 +0000

5.46% for the year with a mix of RBC funds (even with those high MERs). I removed my US$ holdings a few years back due to concerns I had with GWB & Iraq. I have therefore missed the losses I would have sustained due to recent currency fluctuations.

I was reading a book “Cardinal Rules of Investing” which suggests that limiting losses in bad years is likely more important than matching the gains of the index in the good years. This may point out a fallacy in looking at whether or not a fund ‘beats the index’. While a value portfolio might not beat the high flying index, if it does not fall as far in the poor years, it may still be a better return than the index overall, as it does not have as far to climb to recover losses.

I try to remember dear ol’ Dad’s comments when reading performance numbers: “There’s three kinds of untruths: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics”

DAvid

By: FourPillars

FourPillars — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:45:11 +0000

CC – thanks for the number.

MG – thanks for the interesting overview of financials.

Mike

By: Canadian Capitalist

Canadian Capitalist — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:34:28 +0000

Mike: My max for Canadian banks is 7%. Nothing scientific. Just 1/3rd of my Canadian allocation of 20%.

By: moneygardener

moneygardener — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:13:23 +0000

My opinion on financials FWIW…

“I do not think Canadian financials will have a good 2008. Bank EPS growth rates are slowing and the stocks should reflect this like they are already showing. Some of the weaker performers like NA, BMO, or CM might outperform due to the fact that they have dropped so far so fast. I’m not looking for much out of TD, RY, or BNS this year although I like BNS and RY long term at just below these levels.

Canadian insurance stocks like GWO and MFC will probably perform better than the CDN banks. SLF will likely underperform MFC in 2008 due to the run SLF has had in 2007. MFC is probably the ‘buy’ of the sector right now.

The U.S. banks are a different story and I see them outperforming the Canadian banks over the next year or two due to the fact that they have extremely low expectation built into their share prices. There will be further write offs but at some point these things will shoot up off of their lows. This might not occur until 2009 though, and the low levels could be lower than they are today, but if dividends are not cut, I doubt they’ll go much lower.”

By: FourPillars

FourPillars — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 03:25:06 +0000

CC – what is your “max” for Cdn banks?

Mike

By: Jon D.

Jon D. — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:42:26 +0000

Not very well I have to admit. Last year’s double digit returns were destroyed this year by my position in CIBC leading to a negative return. Excluding CIBC, I would have broken even. Though, as a DRIPper, total portfolio return is not really my objective, rather increasing my total dividend payment and individual dividend increases. The avg. increase across my holdings for the 2007 annual dividend was 14%, with the largest being Telus increasing it’s dividend 36.6% last year.

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:34:34 +0000

I am down 2.2% with my sleepy portfolio
30% XBB
25% XSP
25% XIN
12% XIC
6% VWO
2% Misc stocks

Inception Spring 07

By: moneygardener

moneygardener — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 00:43:45 +0000

My 2007 results can be found here.

http://themoneygardener.blogspot.com/2007/12/2007-final-portfolio-summary.html

I’m nervous about adding to Canadian bank positions although they do seem cheap, I think they might be sick this year.

I’m still holding a bias toward U.S. equities and ETFs as I believe the dollar is still at a higher level than it will be in 10 years.

By: Canadian Capitalist

Canadian Capitalist — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:34:56 +0000

I am close to the maximum I want in Canadian Banks, so I’m not interested in this sector anymore. I have some powder dry for REITs, Emerging Markets and Real-return bonds to reach my allocation targets but other than that, I’m just staying the course.