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Best 5 ytd. What are yours?

edited January 2014 in Fund Discussions
After the horses are out of the gate for 3 weeks, out of 43, 24 have positive results. Here are my top 5.

FBIOX: ytd: 14.15%, weight of asset: 0.21%
OBCHX: 6.83%, weight: 4.63%
ETGLX: 6.46%, weight: 4.13%
LADYX: 4.02%, weight: 12.62%
OBIOX: 2.72%, weight: 4.27%

And these are my worst 5:

SFGIX: ytd: -2.47%, weight: 0.53%
VVPSX: -1.64%, weight: 0.42%
WSCVX: -1.60%, weight: 2.24%
HDPSX: -1.39%, weight:3.12%
WESNX: -1.39%, weight: 1.10%

Seems like small caps are not as hot, and emerging markets are still half dead. Selective small caps are still OK: LADYX, BUFOX. Shanghai ( which is heavy on property) index is not doing well in the past few years, but OBCHX did extremely well for me in 2013, up 59.56%, amazing.

How are you doing? Let compare notes.

Comments

  • edited January 2014
    Congratulations on your biotechnology fund FBIOX which is up 14% this year and 77% for one year. Likely, many will note those stellar numbers and buy the fund - provided the managers have not yet closed it. Age and circumstance preclude such focused bets here. However, even in the younger years I'm afraid I'd have sold a fund and taken the profits long before it reached the +77% level over a relatively short period (in accordance with Franklin's belief that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush:-) That's not to say that would have been the correct move - just that it reflects differences in temperament among various investors.

    It's rather early to attempt to draw any conclusions about the new year. Perhaps worth noting that some funds with exposure to commodities & natural resources (ie PRAFX, PRPFX) seem to have awakened from last year's slumber.
  • Dear gk3105gklm: FYI:
    Regards,
    Ted

    SPY -(0.57)%
    IJH 0.50%
    PFF 0.50%
    PRHSX 6.57%
    FBTCX Purchased 12/19/13: 16.52%
    Regards,
    Ted
  • Not at all wonderful.
    DLFNX 1.21
    PRESX 1.12
    PREMX 0.85
    MJFOX 0.74
    PRWCX 0.62

    WORST = SFGIX, at -2.47 and MAPIX at -1.92.

    ...So, my bonds are among the top 5. Surprise? (MAINX is down just a tenth of a point. It was down about 1.5 for 2013.)
  • FBTIX 12.96
    PHSZX 9.40
    PJP 4.98
    VNQ 2.83
    OSMYX 1.30

    The three health care/biotec funds/etfs represent only 5% of total portfolio, but 8% of retirement portfolio. Health care in general is about 11% of total, my biggest sector bet. Was real surprised VNQ was one of my higher ytd funds. Glad to see it finally moving.
  • edited January 2014
    What is much more relevant is what your individual return is in each fund not what the fund may have done ytd unless you steadily held that fund since the beginning and just sold it. There is the issue of what the performance is when you actually sell it. As morningstar notes, individual rate of return is often very different from fund returns. You have to have timed the bottom and top perfectly to realize the maximum gains.

    With performance chasing or momentum trading, you may always have the top returning funds in your portfolio but may not have much of that performance realized yourself. Not to say this is necessarily bad but it is unrealistic to expect to capture most of the gains in high flying funds.

    This is why fund managers do "window dressing" buys and sells at the end of quarter!
  • Reply to @cman: Preachy !
    Regards,
    Ted
  • Reply to @cman: Good point Cman...BBRY up 18.7% YTD...I have owned it for over a year and have not added to it, which equates to a (-84%) underperformance...ouch!

  • Well, hmmm. Sounds like Robt. McNamara in "Fog of War." He said, "don't answer the question you were asked. Answer the question you wish you were asked." yup. Sounds like a politician.

    CMAN makes a good point, though. Don't go barking up the wrong tree. Bark up the meaningful tree.
  • Reply to @Ted: Sorry to have intruded on the tribal chest-thumping routine. Dont mind me, carry on.:-)
  • Reply to @cman: This is to celebrate your one month and 24 visits to the MFO Discussion Board.
    Regards,
    Ted

  • Reply to @MaxBialystock: Looking at MAINX, it looks like the NAV has stabilized since December. Perhaps the worst is over?
  • Reply to @JohnChisum: I thought so.... Down 4 cents today, though. Doesn't sound like much, but for this fund, it is--- all in one slug.
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