Where I Am Today

Where I Am Today

Physically, I am at home in Bermuda. Beautiful spring day here. I thought my readers might enjoy a classic map of Bermuda made in 1606. They did a pretty good job, though my house wasn't there then (however it is pretty old). People don't realize how many old buildings there are here. We have St Peter's church, which is the oldest continuously used Anglican church in the Western Hemisphere. The oldest parts of the current structure date back to 1620.

I am listening to my Zen music player... who needs those fancy I-Pods anyway? Thought I would provide a quick update, even if it isn't great news.

Just The Facts Ma'am

As I mentioned recently, I have just passed my 5th year. While MFI looked like a disaster in the 2nd half of 2008 (I was down over 60%), it made a strong comeback for me in 2009. Since then, I have trailed the market averages, though I am doing worse than if I had simply invested in the "MFI Index", not that one actually existed (Index Back to February 2006). Here are my annual results and inception-to-date as well:

MFI Performance	Column1	Column2
	ITD	Annual
2006	10.74%	10.74%
2007	-6.57%	-15.63%
2008	-41.60%	-37.50%
2009	0.71%	72.47%
2010	10.90%	10.12%
2011	11.09%	0.17%
IWV Performance
	ITD	Annual
2006	11.23%	11.23%
2007	4.65%	-5.91%
2008	-30.54%	-33.63%
2009	-13.95%	23.87%
2010	1.65%	18.14%
2011	7.19%	5.44%
MFI Index Performance
	ITD	Annual
2006	8.30%	8.30%
2007	-6.88%	-14.02%
2008	-35.98%	-31.26%
2009	-11.07%	38.92%
2010	9.19%	22.77%
2011	15.72%	5.98%

For those who prefer a graphical look, here it is:


Obviously I have had a poor run since my spike in November, largely due to a larger concentration of Chinese stocks which I believe in, but regret (so far). I have sworn off buying any more of the microcap RTOs, but will hold the ones I have to duration.

My Current Holdings

As a reminder, I try to keep a list of my current holdings and how they are faring in the left margin of this blog. But I am sure it can be difficult to move the mouse over there, so here is what I own:

Symbol	Initial	Current	Pct Gain	IWV Initial	IWV Change
ARO	$24.53	$25.57	4.2%	$76.90	2.8%
AZN	$47.27	$48.82	7.2%	$75.92	4.1%
CCME	$9.56	$13.10	37.0%	$63.86	23.8%
CEL	$26.22	$30.85	25.1%	$63.45	24.6%
CHKE	$18.18	$16.94	-0.4%	$63.68	24.1%
CMFO	$5.08	$4.73	-7.0%	$65.01	21.6%
CMTL	$26.63	$28.20	7.1%	$70.38	12.3%
EESC	$2.20	$1.60	-27.3%	$67.97	16.3%
IDCC	$47.49	$46.22	-2.7%	$77.54	1.9%
INTC	$19.02	$21.56	14.2%	$67.43	17.2%
JGBO	$6.82	$6.34	-7.1%	$71.80	10.1%
KSW	$3.66	$3.73	6.0%	$66.99	18.0%
MNDO	$2.72	$3.33	34.2%	$77.86	1.5%
MRX	$28.14	$31.24	11.0%	$79.13	-0.1%
MSFT	$27.26	$25.95	-4.2%	$73.88	7.0%
NEP	$7.10	$5.02	-29.3%	$71.78	10.1%
NEWN	$6.31	$5.50	-12.8%	$71.54	10.5%
NVMI	$5.94	$10.39	75.0%	$70.01	12.9%
PM	$44.30	$63.50	47.4%	$64.43	22.7%
RAI	$32.14	$34.85	8.4%	$76.11	3.8%
SCEI	$8.75	$6.69	-23.5%	$72.41	9.1%
SNDK	$38.28	$47.69	24.6%	$69.89	13.1%
SUPG	$2.85	$2.89	1.4%	$76.70	3.0%
UNTD	$5.90	$5.90	5.0%	$63.53	24.4%
Grand Total			8.2%		12.7%

While it "feels" like I am under-performing, the 4 point differential between my open stocks and the Russell 3000 is pretty close to normal based on the other MFI benchmarks I look at. So while I would rather be doing better with my current picks, I should not beat myself up too much either... not healthy. Note the RAI is being held for a 2nd year. It was a roaring success the 1st year increeasing by 27% versus the R3000's 17%. But I show it here as a new stock/year.

New Money

I have not put new money into MFI since that poor summer of 2007 when the wheels started to fall off. Sometimes I think I should, sometimes I think I shouldn't. I have been putting new money into bonds, utilities (SBS) and financial stocks (STD, USB, VR, LNC and AXS). I think when clearly MFI outperforming see I, then more dollars put in will I.