[784caroline]

The financials have taken a beating in 2009 and are still dirt in many minds but have come back some....and alot of advisors are starting to "selectively" recommend them. Rather than guessing on which one.....this ETF is a play for yield (9%+). If...IF the economy recovers antime soon, you could have some appreciation as well as a nice yield here. COMMENTS??

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

The financials have taken a beating in 2009 and are still dirt in many minds but have come back some....and alot of advisors are starting to "selectively" recommend them. Rather than guessing on which one.....this ETF is a play for yield (9%+). If...IF the economy recovers antime soon, you could have some appreciation as well as a nice yield here. COMMENTS??

Hi Caroline,

You asked for comments and I must preface mine by saying that it is based upon no sophistication at all when it comes to investments.

Also, I have not used ETF's, but I do find them interesting because they are more nimble than mutual funds, as I understand it anyway. I am not a fan of mutual funds, but I keep meaning to learn more about ETF's.

About those financials though....I just cannot forgive them and I probably never will.

Re. the bank part of it all.....I looked at buying some individual bank stocks when they were starting to do obscenely well and paying a tempting dividend. 5/3 in Cincinnati was one that I thought about. But then I thought a little more and something in my gut told me that banks and stockholders might not be a good mix. -- But, personally, I have never liked big banks. So that was a factor, too. I have always used small community banks. (But now I hear that they are being punished for doing things right.)

And then Greenspan just kept giving money away, fearing inflation, and that looked like all Mr. G could see, and he would not listen to me when I yelled at him and on and on it went and we are still in it... and will be for a long, long time, I think.

I have great concerns about any investments tied to commercial property. Big box stores are swallowing everybody up and so many people just love to shop on the internet and then wonder why more and more retail space is abandoned. So we have not only empty manufacturing space now, but empty retail space, and a lot of empty office space because the customer service or tech support for so many companies has gone somewhere else in the world, and oh yeah, I almost forgot the empty car dealerships.

Anyway, I am digressing here and I need to shut up and go get busy on something else.....

And, Caroline, I wish you the best in your investments. I want people to do well. And I know that I don't know anything.

My comments are just that. Just my own theory. And it probably has all kinds of holes in it I know.

But like I said, I choose investments in the most unsophisticated manner imaginable. I look around.

Boomer

[784caroline]

Boomer

Fully understand...when we go to a race track...which is very infrequent...my better half never reads a race sheet but selects horses based on there names or the color of silks they wear.....and of course 9 out of 10 selections will be a long shot. Initially I was hestitant to place her bet...what did she know but she has an uncanny knack of picking at least one winner and getting the best out of her $2....while I only have race stubs to show!! Im hoping PGF is better than my race picks and at least it has a dividend cushion which I hope holds up.

Nothing is life or death (if it is you should not be doing this) but there is some excitement in trying to do the best we can!

Best to you (and other participants on this board) in the New Years...and its always good to throw an idea out...I mean thats the purpose of the board correct!!!

And of course like you, I know nothing than than average person walking the street!

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

Boomer

Fully understand...when we go to a race track...which is very infrequent...my better half never reads a race sheet but selects horses based on there names or the color of silks they wear.....and of course 9 out of 10 selections will be a long shot. Initially I was hestitant to place her bet...what did she know but she has an uncanny knack of picking at least one winner and getting the best out of her $2....while I only have race stubs to show!! Im hoping PGF is better than my race picks and at least it has a dividend cushion which I hope holds up.

Nothing is life or death (if it is you should not be doing this) but there is some excitement in trying to do the best we can!

Best to you (and other participants on this board) in the New Years...and its always good to throw an idea out...I mean thats the purpose of the board correct!!!

And of course like you, I know nothing than than average person walking the street!

Uh oh, Caroline, this is a discussion I have a hard time resisting, and I really need to get to real work, but while we are at it here......I am looking for an opinion on something, too.....

Last spring and summer, I picked up some more utilities because of the dividend. I have been using them to replace CD's, to a certain extent. I recently picked up DPL, although I caught it too high to likely capture a lot of gain, the dividend was not terrible. I have just started to visit the idea of FE. Again, not a thrilling dividend but better than CD's.

But my question is, where is the vulnerability in utilities? I recognize there will be green influence more and more. But, overall, for a boring investor like me, I keep wondering about the vulnerability of utilities stocks.

And speaking of just a feeling....I bought KFT last year, and it has done well. I wish I had bought more. I bought it because I thought mac and cheese would be popular.

Anyway, I am looking for comments on utilities. And yes, of course, I have Duke and SE. It was once CG&E.

Yeah, I know. You can take the girl out of Cincinnati. But you can't take the Cincinnati out of the girl. And so, rest assured, I never bet the farm. Just the butter and egg money.

Boomer

[784caroline]

Our minds think alike. With CD rates so low obviously many people are looking for yield at least to replace the CDs that came due in 2009 or shortly will. PGF in part was a yield play. I have a good stake in Dominion resources and have had it for 30 years. I like D because its area of coverage is fairly wide (more than just Virginia), it has nuclear exposure, gas pipelines, and is setting up some solar subsidaries.

I have been looking at Con ED (ED) nice 5% plus div but putting my apples in NYC makes me uneasy. Rather I have been looking and probably will put some ash in XLU which is a Utility SPDR ETF containing approx 30 utiltiy and gas companies paying about 4.1% dividend. Its a little over bought right now and would like to get in under 30. I would just rather spread the risk and play on an ETF such as LXU rather than trying ot analyze individual issues

Got to run!!

[spk7951]

Boomer,

When I was doing some pre-retirement investing I read quite a bit of material on the internet. I found what I felt to be the best investment writer in Jim Jubak. I did very well when I choose to invest in some of the things he wrote about and yes I did have a few bad investments. But overall I did come out ahead and still read his writings even though I no longer invest in stocks. If you have not heard of him then below is a link to his page on MSN Money. Good luck with your investments.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...Jim_Jubak.aspx