Market/Portfolio Update 02/03/10

Before reading, please see the disclaimer in the 'About Me' section.

Here goes...

Today the Wilshire 5000 closed at 11,330.55, down from 11,342.70 since my last post on 1/27/10. The Wilshire 5000 is now hovering around 8.33% above it's 200-day moving average. In my eyes, this is a sign that the market is still consolidating, and that's a good thing

The Investor's Intelligence Survey was released on Thursday night of last week, as it is every week. This survey is a measurement of the sentiment in the market. This week's reading was 40.0% BULLS, and 23.3% BEARS, for a spread of 16.7%. This is in comparison to a reading of 52.2% BULLS, and 18.9% BEARS, for a spread of 33.3% on January 19th. Since the last reading, the spread between bulls and bears was cut in half, not necessarily a good thing, and helping to support my conclusion from the prior paragraph.

The Volatility Index closed out the week at 21.60, down from 23.14 at the date of my last post.

Now for the portfolio...
1) Verizon at $29.19, down 11.67% for the year (ouch...still). However, we were able to get the dividend of $.475 on February 1st. For the purpose of this exercise, we will assume all dividends are reinvested. As such, we were able to pick up another fraction of a share, and to lower our cost basis a bit. It is also worth noting that Verizon has crossed below it's 200-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages. A sign that I see as very bullish.

2) AT&T closed at $26.37, down 1.20% for the year.

3) GE closed at $16.68, up by 10.24% for the year. It's also worth noting that one of the analysts on Fast Money mentioned it as a buy today, as well as X.

4) Citigroup closed at $3.37, up by 1.81% for the year.

5) TBT, the doubleshort U.S. Treasury ETF closed at $48.68, down by 2.41% since our buy.

6) FXP, the doubleshort China ETF, closed at $9.14, up 6.03% since my buy.

7) GOOD closed at $13.97, up by 3.64% since my buy last week.

8) NLY closed at $18.05, up by 4.05% since my buy last week.

Overall, the portfolio is up by 1.35% (-.91% for the DOW Dogs), versus -1.45% for the Wilshire 5000. I have opened up a nice 2.80% gap against the market for the year, not too shabby. I still have two slots open, but as of now I am unsure of what I want to do with them. Stay posted.

As always, question and comments are most welcome.