Today was the last trading day for the month of August 2012. Time to take a look at look at the month end closing prices for the ETFs that make up the IVY timing model and see if any actions need to be taken.
As usual you can see the signals at world beta or my preferred source dshort. Below are the signals for the end of August 2012.
This month two buy signals were triggered. Both VEU, foreign stocks, and DBC, commodities, triggered buy signals by closing above their dividend adjusted 200 day (10 month) simple moving averages. Going into today the IVY portfolio allocation is currently 60% invested and 40% in cash (here is a link to the signals from last month). These new buy signals mean the portfolio goes to 100% invested for next month, with a 20% allocation to VEU and a 20% allocation to DBC.
If you are implementing the IVY portfolio you would buy both VEU and DBC on Tuesday, Sept 4th, the first trading day of Sept. As I’ve said earlier I run the IVY model in my family’s IRA and I will be making these trades on Tuesday as well. While not a requirement I recommend using limit orders for your trades as well. Also, any decent broker is offering these popular ETFs on their commission free list so you shouldn’t be paying any fees to buy these ETFs.
For previous posts on the IVY timing model and its performance see here and here.
15 Comments
Jim · August 31, 2012 at 8:56 pm
Would you buy all of the etf’s if you were just starting to invest in this portfolio?
libertatemamo · August 31, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Hi Jim, personally I wouldn’t. I would wait until the signals for the particular ETF went to sell and then back to buy. Or at least I’d wait until it gets close to the 200 day SMA. Obviously, that may take some time but its the safest way. Or at least I’d wait for a pull-back to the 50-day SMA or a less than few % difference between the price and the 200-day SMA. Hope that helps.
Paul
Del Clark · September 1, 2012 at 10:33 am
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the update!
You suggest limit orders … could you give an example?
Del
libertatemamo · September 1, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Sure Del. A limit order is just an order to buy or sell at your specified price, not the market price.
For example if buying VEU on Tuesday, in your broker’s on-line platform you could enter a buy-limit order at a price of $42.47, which was Friday’s
closing price. This means you are telling your broker to buy VEU at any price up to a limit of $42.47 and no higher. Make sense?
Paul
ellis · September 11, 2012 at 2:11 am
what will u do if the limit order not filled?
libertatemamo · September 12, 2012 at 7:59 am
Hi Ellis, if the limit order isn’t filled, I try again. The point is to buy during that day and not get too concerned over the exact price.
Paul
LuAnn · September 2, 2012 at 7:51 am
Thanks for introducing us to the IVY method. I’m loving your posts, even if I don’t understand all of it (lol). 🙂
libertatemamo · September 2, 2012 at 9:20 am
Happy to help Lu. Nice to see you back.
Paul
Michael Pemberton · September 19, 2012 at 10:19 am
Paul,
I recently read the Ivy book. Thanks for your input here. Do you buy the funds on the last trading day of the month or the first trading day of the next month?
Thanks for your input,
Michael
libertatemamo · September 20, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Michael, you buy on the first day of the trading month. You need to wait for closing prices on the final day before you can make any decisions.
Paul
Michael Pemberton · September 21, 2012 at 6:13 am
Thanks Paul!
Kevin D · September 19, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Paul:
I’m now invested in the Ivy Portfolio and thank you for bringing it to my attention. I have a question, if you don’t mind.
I have not been able to find the YTD return for the portfolio. The returns of each of the ETFs is readily available, but not the Ivy Portfolio. Can you tell me what it is through August?
Thanks
Kevin
libertatemamo · September 20, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Kevin, Dshort does an update every month. You can find it through the end of Aug here. Click on the image and towards the bottom you can see the performance by year.
Paul
September 2012 portfolio review « Investing For A Living · September 12, 2012 at 9:20 am
[…] IVY portfolio – posted on this may times. It’s the way I manage my family’s IRAs. Simple, automatic, no great thinking required. […]
Every investor needs an information management strategy « Investing For A Living · September 25, 2012 at 10:27 am
[…] I have an automatic risk management strategy. In my long term accounts it is the following of the IVY timing model. In my trading accounts it is the following of my risk management rules. This removes most of my […]
Comments are closed.