You're right MT, the brain power going to waste is mind-boggling.  It goes to the core of my struggle with the role of government in controlling this behavior.   Some argue that the shadiness in private industry creates a legitimate role for government to regulate it, and I can't disagree with that....

Why not 100% EDV, as it most closely tracks a Long-as-possible term holding of long-term bonds?

Is it because it's also an ETF and the inherant risks of another layer of market activity come into play?

...probably should have put this on the other EDV thread... my apologies... feel free to move it over, Craig.

So if EDV most closely tracks a 30-year LT treasury bond by having a longer average duration, why, in posts I've read, should we consider anything less than 100% EDV, and have TLT instead?  I thought HB suggested keeping the duration as long as possible. This is irrespective of skepticism of ETF's.....

To make it worse, I work for an accounting firm, and our financial management arm manages our options... so we've got professionals picking our choices.... I've told my buddy in that department to talk to the higher-ups about TRUE diversivfication. But since LT treasuries and gold are in the same ri...

I thought of the perfect analogy for the PP as opposed to a rollercoaster stock portfolio (or at least implementing the philosophy to some degree)... It's like properly timing stop lights, while watching all the other sheeple blow by you at the outset, only to know they're going to end up having to ...

401k plans are a joke.  Mine's like 7 different managed stock funds, a real estate fund, an emerging markets fund, some "balanced" fund (that term makes me laugh), and a couple pathetic money-market funds. No Gold. No LT Treasuries. No non-managed stock fund containing 5000 companies No co...

Some people, including myself, have expressed concern about a situation where stocks, gold, & LT treasuries all drop at the same time... mostly due to the fact that we're on a pretty solid surge of all 3. I looked to see if this had happened in the past, and it's not all that rare.  In '82, '86 ...

At current rates, maybe under your mattress?

Mind: Blown.  I'm assuming this is as available with Roth/IRA's as it is with taxable accounts??

Thanks folks... Merry Christmas.

You can use Vanguard's brokerage to buy non-vanguard funds?

But then you need somewhere else to get your gold... only complaint.  I'd do vanguard in a heartbeat.

Does anybody invest through ING Sharebuilder so they can do it all on one account an not have a separate one with Vanguard, ishares, etc.?

It's got good ratings and seems to hold a lot of good funds... just wondering if people use it as a one-stop-shop for their PP.

Regarding nobody being an Island, my snowblower broke down this weekend.  3 of my neighbors (I live in a cul-de-sac) realized it and there was a parade of snow blowers and shovels coming my way with help getting out of the 4-foot drifts from off of my roof. One small example, but when trusted friend...

The momentum stuff is very scary if you ask me...  It's does hold up amazingly historically, though.  I would think of it as a way to tweak your portfolio, maybe not going all in.

I wonder what a 40/30/20/10 RS portfolio would look like... personally I'd always keep cash at 10%.

Another note,

I couldn't really improve my 70/20/5 Relative Strength returns with anything that favored stocks.  Sticking with relative strength, even if it means being 5% stocks, may just be the answer.

Clive, I'm kind of new with some aspects of investing, and you seem like you have done a lot of analysis in other posts that is very interesting.  I am always looking for ways to either smooth returns or increase returns, obviously at as minimal expense to the other as possible.  There is one thing ...

Here's the thing.  I have no kids and I am a tax accountant (pretty stable work), so I have this invincible feeling that makes me want to tweak the PP, as beautiful as it is.  I'm sure if I had a more unstable career and a couple of mouths to feed I'd have a lot more tendancy to stick to it as-is.

Storm, So maybe 33/33/33 isn't appropriate... maybe LT bonds should be 40% or more.  Point being, if deflationary trends would have persisted, LT bonds would have significantly outperformed cash. On the flip side, many people like cash because it refinances every year into current interest rates, so...

My Debt Free, You just opened a can of worms.  I've been analyzing the big 3 assets without cash (even though, realistically, cash would make up part of a total portfolio... I just know it hardly ever does better work at countering stock drops than bonds/gold. I think it all has to do with risk appe...

When I look at the PP over the last 38 years with cash vs without, I think the increased return outweighs the risk.  Either Gold or LT treasuries, or both, go zonkers when stocks go down sharply.  Why would I hold cash for sharp stock downturns? Ok, obviously you can park your dividends & intere...

I , too, find cash to be way to much of a "sucker's play."  I keep whatever cash on hand I feel is good as a cushion in my checking account, and whatever it takes to have maybe a 3-6 month emergency fund.  That's the nice thing about the PP... you can tweak it to give you your perfect expo...

As long as you have proper investment options in both accounts (Gold, LT treasuries, cash, stocks), you shouldn't have any problems.  When, for example, the gold in your 25% account goes up to 35%, you would sell 10% of it and buy into whatever appropriate other assets with no tax effect.  It does, ...

Interesting work, Clive.  Much appreciated input!

I find the RSPP interesting from reading in the past, because it's almost like you're chasing returns, which seems counterintuitive to people on the PP board.  The returns in the past 38 years can't be denied, though.

The PP is at its best when its assets are acting volatile.... as opposed to being in any one asset long-term of course.

The volatility is what allows the PP to come close to the long-term return of an all-stock portfolio.