One thing....

One thing about blogging: you meet some interesting people! Got a couple responses to my latest post about the market and moving into bonds.

First, Croft at Croft's Mexico mentioned his pension fund is into bonds - well, duh! They have a fiduciary responsibility to keep the money safe for the pensioners. Maybe they are trying to grow the amount so as to give increases but in a sideways market like we have in the U.S today they can't be looking for homerun stocks. (Don't have a clue what the Canadian markets are doing; I can barely keep track of the Dow.) I find it a scary time to move into bonds with Treasuries paying 1%. But that's why I'm not a professional money manager!

Then Dan, at The Art of Panic, came up with a attribution for one of my favorite quotes. The quote is "figures don't lie but liars figure" and he presents evidence that it was said by Mark Twain. Well, it sounds like Twain and the evidence sounds pretty impressive but I'm still not finding it in any standard reference. Odd that, say the Mark Twain web site, doesn't claim it. Anyway, who cares, it's a great line and an important point to remember whoever said it.

One more point about moving more into bonds. I don't do tectonic shifts to the old portfolio. When I talk about raising the percentage of bonds I'm talking steps of maybe 1%. Over a few years it will make a change but one trade every six or eight months as the interest rate modifications unfold is what we are talking about.

Have a good day and good luck!

"He is now fast rising from affluence to poverty." Mark Twain