RETAIL SALES REPORT-

[Rod]

I'm posting this again, because my first post got stuck in "the matrix". So, expect a duplicate posting.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/13/news/economy/retailsales/?cnn=yes

From Yahoo:

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Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast that retail sales would be unchanged in November.

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Shows what they know, huh???;)

[Mike]

That oughtta help us get off to a good start this week. I need to get rid of that foul taste in my mouth after those horrifically timed reallocations last week... :shock:

Futures markets are all up about 0.4%.

European markets are up over 0.5%.

Euro is up 0.4%.

*If* it all holds, we're looking green across the board today, particularly in the I-fund (after taking a huge hit last week :shock:). Hopefully, that fund will climb back up to around $15 again this week, at which point I will lighten up on it (should've done that the first time around, but I'm not clairvoyant). :P

[Rod]

Mike wrote:
That oughtta help us get off to a good start this week. I need to get rid of that foul taste in my mouth after those horrifically timed reallocations last week... :shock:

Futures markets are all up about 0.4%.

European markets are up over 0.5%.

Euro is up 0.4%.

*If* it all holds, we're looking green across the board today, particularly in the I-fund (after taking a huge hit last week :shock:). Hopefully, that fund will climb back up to around $15 again this week, at which point I will lighten up on it (should've done that the first time around, but I'm not clairvoyant). :P

Hey Mike, I'm currently 50% I, and I did take that loss on Friday.

When do you plan on lightening up?

I'm contemplating today.

[Mike]

We have very strong upward movement in europe right now. The Dax (germany for those who don't know) is up over 1%. France is right behind, and Britain ain't doing too shabbily, either. Last I saw, Hong Kong was slightly lower (about 0.1%, so negligable), and Japan was modestly higher. Combine that with the euro being up 0.4% thus far, and it looks like a very nice day for the I fund (EAFE currently up 0.8%, leading all of the TSP indices).

Here is my current position on the I fund:

I have 25% purchased at $14.63 per share and 10% purchased at $14.93 per share (as it slid off its highs - wish I made that purchase a couple days later, oh well). So, to make this profitable, I'm forced to wait for a few days of gains to materialize and erase last week's losses. We're off to a very good start today, thankfully - the current gains would put us back up around $14.80. I expect a good week, so I might be able to lighten up my I holdings by Friday. We'll see what happens.