trimmings

It has become very clear to me that we are now in a period of consistent market floundering. The markets fall by 200 points then churn their way back 250 points over the next few weeks...  Then there is another 200 point setback followed by another few weeks of gradual churning upwards.

What does this mean?

Bumpy, lumpy slow nothing...  Which is exactly why I'm loving my REIT heavy portfolio.  It doesn't matter if they periodically go up and down with a net increase/decrease of ZERO, as they all pay handsome MONTHLY yields.

Sure, when the S&P TSX falls 200 points (like today 2012-05-03) then I'm down a "smallish" amount.  But at the same time, when the markets bounce back, I get all that back as well as the monthly income I get from dividends and distributions.

I did CLOSE my positions of AGF and SII.  (Two companies that sell mutual fund products to the uneducated masses aka. suckers)  As I continue to see increased competition for them.  (Which means lower profits over time)  This means that the "unwashed masses" are finally realizing that mutual funds are robbing them blind and getting them little to no return.

So what's next for me?  I'm going to continue to add to (and re-balance) my REIT heavy portfolio.  D.un (Dundee REIT) is now far too large a holding.  (Thanks to D.un taking over WRK.un)  So I'm looking to sell off some in my RRSP and cash it out while I'm currently in the "poor slob" tax-bracket.

New positions include PAR.un and IIP.un.  I only have 200 and 100 units of each, but I'm looking to add more to get them up to a 5-7% weighting in my portfolio.

I might try my hand with the VIX, but that's not for the faint of heart.  I had played oil (via HOU and HOD) for a while, but I'm convinced there is only one direction oil can go in the long term, nor am I that tuned in to what the oil market is doing.

What does this mean?  Your guess is as good as mine.  That's why I love REITs and the monthly rental fees they send my way.