Portfolio Changes in the Works

Back in January (the 21st to be exact) I mentioned my small portfolio that I have with Sharebuilders. Under normal circumstances I usually review my holdings on a quarterly basis but there were some changes I wanted to make, so I thought I would give a mid-month update.

A note of interest: I am addicted to Clark Howard!! I would like to incorporate some of his ideas in to my investment/retirement planning. More on him in a later post!

Previous:

"top 5 individual holdings should not be in the same industry." They suggest investing in the following way--local company-oil stock--a brand name blue chip--financial--and a speculative stock.

I am in the process of making these possible changes--starting another account/portfolio or taking current portfolio up to the next level (from $12/6 trades to $20/20 trades):

• LOCAL--Northwest Savings Bank [NWSB-$17.75-DIV] or...
• OIL STOCK--unknown, possible United Refining
• BLUE CHIP--Honda Motor Corp [HMC-$24.02-DIV]
• FINANCIAL--ING or...
• SPEC--unknown, possible a wind energy company Trinity [TRN--]

As for my current holdings:

• MON--MONSANTO CO//Shares 0.5704//Market Value $45.30
1. CHANGE--Shares +.0399//Market Value +$3.07
• NRG--NRG ENERGY INC//Shares 1.0548//Market Value $23.54
1. CHANGE--Shares +.1288//Market Value +$1.49
• RSG--REPUBLIC SVCS INC//Shares 1.4040//Market Value $33.84
1. CHANGE--Shares 0//Market Value -$2.02
• RTK--RENTECH INC//Shares 52.4691//Market Value $40.40
1. CHANGE--Shares +7.8739//Market Value +$9.08
• SO--SOUTHERN CO//Shares 0.8990//Market Value $26.65
1. CHANGE--Shares +.0859//Market Value -$.08
• VVC--VECTREN CORP//Shares 1.0058//Market Value $26.03
1. CHANGE--Shares +.1149//Market Value +$1.49
• Total Account Value $197.25
1. CHANGE--$197.25 - $184.16 (1/19/09) = $13.09

Some changes I was considering and still in the works depending on my decision from above:

• Eliminate one of my utility holdings, replace with a local stock and/or a blue chip--still deciding
• RSG merged with Allied Waste (AW) currently not actively investing, need to change that--
• Reconsider my holding(s) in MON, ethics/morals in business may be a problem--if I do decide to drop must find another blue chip or financial to replace

If I decide to add another portfolio or up my level, and return to my 401k, I may drop my 401k contribution down to 1% ($15.60/mth). My current investment percent is 4% I would then use the remaining 3% to up my Sharebuilders and explore a Roth IRA and a Money Market Mutual Fund, and I just found that ING/Sharebuilders has the Roth so I am excited--YEA!! Have to look to see if they have the MMMF. [This is the Clark Howard effect, he talks a lot about Roths, 401k's, MMMF, and saving for retirement in general.]

All told, depending on how this plays out I will be investing $62.40/mth or 4%. I also need to look at my allocations within my 401k and make changes if needed.

Hopefully this post isn't too disjointed as my mind was racing with ideas as I wrote it. I will be updating it soon as I make my decisions and finish my research.

Mini update 2/15/09: I started doing some basic research into Roth's and MMMF's. I definitely need to do more. SO Until I am comfortable with my decision, I am going to go with plan C: decrease 401k to 1% increase Sharebuilders to 3% and add new holdings once determined. If and when I build up enough funds in my Sharebuilders I will then take those funds to do a Roth ($1000-$3000 initial minimum investment); MMMF undetermined at this point. Changes will most likely take place in March.