As the month of July was coming to a close, the Dow fell by over 300 points in one day. On a day like this a fortress-like portfolio mix of 50% high-grade fixed income and 50% dividend-paying stocks, allows a prudent and astute investor to not only sleep well but perhaps even gloat a little. This month, I talk about what’s best for your portfolio if you’re about to retire in the next 5 to 10 years. Plus, I cover the six positions I am adding to that are in our portfolio. If you are looking to smooth out your portfolio, check out my fixed-income strategy. I discuss the potential of zeros and how my Young Research Valuation Indicator can point out buy signals for you. And I have one new stock for you and one stock to sell, plus a new list of blue-chip preferreds and an update on our Agricultural Commodities portfolio. Make it a good month!

Tags: Alcan, Alcoa, Alexander & Baldwin, Alico, American Express, BHP Billiton, BlackRock, Boeing, Cresud, DB Agricultural Commodities Fund, Deutsche Bank, Dodge & Cox International, Federated Investors, Fidelity Canada, general electric, harley-davidson, ING, iShares Singapore, johnson & johnson, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, New Era, Pepsico, Piedmont Natural gas, Plum Creek Timber, Powershares, retirement, Rio Tinto, ruger, Sturm, Syngenta, T. Rowe Price, T. Rowe Price Japan Fund, Tiffany, treasury, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Wellesley Income, Wal-Mart, withdrawal rate, Wrigley, Xstrata, Young Valuation Indicator, zeros

This month I talk about jazz great Thelonious Monk, his sense of rhythm and mastery of space. Successful investing and Monk’s music have one thing in common—space. For you, the investor, space is about what you do not want to do. In this issue, I offer you a program to help you develop your own rhythm and balance along with an overview of some of our investments and a special section on 10 Reasons to Love the Outcome of the November 7 Elections. I also talk about the bull market in precious metals and oil and why I believe there is still room to grow. Make it a good month.

Tags: Boeing, Brazil, compound interest, defense, dividends, Duke Energy, election, ExxonMobil, Federal Express, FedEx, gold, Hormel, HSBC, income, jazz, McCormick & Company, Microsoft, Minton, patience, Pepsico, Piedmont Natural gas, platinum, rhythm, risk, ruger, silver, space, Sturm, Thelonious Monk, tolerance, United Parcel Service, Vanguard GNMA Fund, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining

This month, I talk about the impact of terrorism on our economy and what that may mean for our economic outlook. The outlook looks great for our gold holdings
and I think you should add to them. There are other commodities that are cheap right now, which I think you should look into. Plus, I have some good ideas
for new money and a new addition to the Common Stocks Monster Master List. Also, since the issue went to print, one of my buy recommendations is no longer
a buy based on our updated charts. Don’t miss this update in the November issue. Make it a good month.

Tags: ABER, Aber Diamonds, agricultural commodities, AIPAC, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Anheuser Busch, BDJ, BOE, BUD, CAG, Clinton, coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, Defense spending, Delta & Pine Land, Democrats, DIA, DLP, DODBX, Dodge & Cox balanced, Dodge & Cox income, DODIX, Dow Diamonds Trust, Enhanced Dividend Achievers Trust, Federated Investors, FII, Franklin Mutual Shares, GE, general electric, Global Opportunities Equity Trust, gold, hard-liners, harley-davidson, HOG, Hormel, Howard Dean, HRL, Iran, Israel, Jim Talent, JM Smucker, JNJ, Joe Lieberman, johnson & johnson, Kerry, KO, Lt. Col. Patterson, Massoud, mcCormick, MCD, McDonalds, MKC, MUTHX, NATO, Netanyahu, Patriot Act, PEP, Pepsico, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, PNY, Polaris, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, RGR, ruger, Salafi jihad, SJM, Sturm, TAREX, TAVFX, TAVIX, terrorism, Third Avenue International, third Avenue Real Estate, Third Avenue Value, TimberWest, TWF.UN, Vanguard Equity Income, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Vanguard Value Index, VEIPX, VGPMX, VIVAX, VWELX, VWINX, Wellington, Wellsley, Wrigley, WWY, Yankee Candle, YCC

Simple is Sophisticated is my theme for you this month. In this issue, I offer you a new one-stock program that I think may appeal to those of you interested in a shorter timeframe than my usual buy it and forget it strategy. Also this month I cover a lot of ground on mutual fund investing and where you should put new money today. Plus, I talk about some of our Monster Master List companies and what recent news stories mean for your investments. Make it a good month.

Tags: ABX, American Century Global Gold, Barrick Gold, BGEIX, Burton Malkiel, coca-Cola, DayJet, Delta & Pine, DIA, DIS, Disney, DLP, Dow Diamonds, DRAM, dynamic random access memory, EWS, FAL, Falconbridge, FCEa, FICDX, Fidelity Canada, forest City, GE, general electric, General Electric Capital 6.45%, General Thabit, George Tomsco, GG, GLD, Goldcorp, Goldman Sachs 6.20%, harley-davidson, HDI, HOLBX, Holland balanced Fund, HSBC Financial 6.36%, Inco's, iShares MSCI Singapore, Jack Bogle, Japan, Jeremy Siegel, JNJ, johnson & johnson, KO, magnetoresistive random access memory, Marvel Eneterprises, mcCormick, MKC, MRAM, MVL, N, NEM, Newmont Mining, Norman Petty, PEP, Pepsico, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, PLD, PNY, Polaris Industries, Prologis, Retirement Compounders, Saudi Arabia, Simple is Sophisticated, stretTRACKS Gold Shares, Teck Cominco, TEK-SVB.TO, terrorism, The Fireballs, Vanguard Wellington, Vanguard's Value Index, VIVAX, VLJ, VWELX, Wrigley, WWY, Yankee Candle, YCC

Where do you put your money today? This month, I still have gold at the top of my list. In fact, there is a new offering from the U.S. government that I think you should buy. Also, the long-term increase trend in the Canadian dollar bodes well for our Canadian investments so I have two new funds from Canada that I want you to add to your equities positions as well. Plus, in my Monster List, I am bringing back one of my favorites, and I have breaking news that shows a strong future for this company’s new product line. Make it a good month.

Tags: AA, ABER, aber diamond, Al Qaeda, Al-Zaeqawi, Alcoa, ALEX, Alexander & Baldwin, Alpha Natural Resources, American Century Global Gold, ANR, Archstone-Smith, ASN, Bank of America Capital trust X11, BlackRock Enhanced Dividend Achievers Trust, BlackRock Global Opportunities Equities trust, BTU, CAG, Canadian General Investments, Cleveland-Cliffs, CLF, coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, DD, DEL, Delta & Pine Land, Deltic timber, DLP, Dow Diamonds, DuPont, EQR, Equity residential, FAL, Falconbridge, FDG, Federated Investors, Fidelity Canada, FII, Florida rock, Fording Canadian Coal, FRK, harley-davidson, HDI, illinois tool works, Inco, Iraq, ITW, JOE, KO, Kurds, Marvel Enterprises, MVL, N, NOC, Norfolk Southern, Northrop Grumman, NSC, PD, Peabody Energy, Pentair, PEP, Pepsico, Phelps Dodge, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, PNR, PNY, Polaris Industries, Retirement Compounders, RFID, Smart Dust, Smart Rocks, St. Joe, streetTracks Gold Shares, Sysco, SYY, Teck Cominco, trinity Intustries, TRN, VNO, Vornado, Xstrata, XTA.L, Yankee Candle, YCC

In this month’s issue I focus on the effects of Hurricane Katrina and what it means for your investments and for the U.S. economy. No matter the outlook, your investment strategy need not be altered, as I have been guiding you in the direction of a fully counterbalanced portfolio capable of riding out even catastrophic events like Katrina. Remember a conservative approach to investing wins. I devote the bulk of this issue to review our portfolios and what kind of return you need to plan for. And as promised I’ve included my end-of-summer “Mostly Stocks” section, which provides intelligence on many of our Monster Master List names. You must act now to take care of your portfolio as I have been stressing for the past few months.

Tags: AA, AL, Alcan, Alcoa, ALEX, Alexander & Baldwin, artom Whitman values Fund, BHP, BHP Billiton, BPL, Buckeye Partners, CAG, CAT, Caterpillar, Cleveland-Cliffs, CLF, coca-Cola, ConAgra, ConocoPhillips, COP, Delta & Pine Land, DLP, Enerplus resources fund, ERF, ExxonMobil, FAL, Falconbridge, FDG, Fording Canadian Coal trust, harley-davidson, HBC, HDI, Hormel, HRL, HSBC Holdings, ITW, J.M. Smucker, JOE, JPM Chase Capital XIV, Katrina, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, KMP, KO, Legg Mason, LM, Mandarin Oriental International, McCormic, MCD, McDonalds, Microsoft, MKC, MOIL.SI, MSFT, Natural resource Partners, NRP, O;;onois tool Works, PCL, PDG, PEP, Pepsico, PFE, Pfizer, Piedmont Natural gas, PII, Placer Dom, Plum Creek, PNY, Polaris, Rayonier, RGR, Rio Tinto, RTP, ruger, RYN, SJM, St. Joe, Sturm, T. Rowe Price New Era, Teck Cominco, Third Avenue International Value, Third Avenue Real Estate Value, Third Avenue Small-cap value, Third Avenue Value, Third Avenue values, Valero LP, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, Vanguard Wellington, VLI, XOM