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

1967’s Monterey International Pop Festival was a catalyst for a financial tidal wave in the pop music industry that lasted an entire decade. My 2008-based Big Idea hitched to the luxury goods supercycle is much the same, if not a whole lot more. Read this month’s issue to find out more about the impact this will have on babyboomer retirements. Also this month, I have a special guide on high-yield investing, along with quite a few new Monster Master List stocks and an update on our agricultural commodities portfolio. Make it a good month.

Tags: 2008, Alcan, Alcoa, Alico, American Express, AMEX, aquarius, barclays, Barrick Gold, Big Idea, Black Army, Black Hills, Bombardier, catalyst, citigroup, Coke, Cresud, default, Dodge & Cox income, ExxonMobil, Federated Investors, Fidelity, First National Bank Shares, Garmin, General Dynamics, general electric, harley-davidson, high yield, iShares, Japan, jet, Newmont Mining, peaks, Pepsi Bottling, Polaris, pop music, Powershares, Retirement Compounders, Royal Bank, ruger, St. Joe, Sturm, supercycle, Syngenta, Tiffany, Unilever, vanguard, yield spread