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

Of the more than 8,000 mutual funds in existence, only a handful are worthy of consideration for your investment options. The majority are just closet index funds masquerading as something unique. But there is a growing segment of the investment industry that has overtaken mutual funds and they are ETFs. ETFs have caught on in a big way. So big, that this month I am adding nine to my Monster Master List. With these additions, you can now construct a diversified ETF-only portfolio. Along with the ETFs I have one new stock, and four A-rated Preferreds to help you avoid the leveraged buyout industry taking over many BBB-rated firms. Plus, I have changed the layout for my issue to include a full two-page update of my Top Ten Countdown stocks. I’ve also added my What’s Up & What’s Down column to the main issue. I believe you’ll find these enhancements very informative and useful. Make it a good month!

Tags: Alexander, Alico, American Express, assets, Australia, Baldwin, barclays, Barrick Gold, benchmard, BHP Billiton, capital gains, citigroup, Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund, ETFs, Federated Investors, GE Capital, income tax, iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund, iShares MSCI EAFE Value Index Fund, iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund, iShares MSCI Sweden, iShares S&P Global Materials Sector Index Fund, Jardine Matheson, johnson & johnson, land, Market Vectors Gold Miners, Market Vectors Russia ETF, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Nazis, Newmont Mining, Nomura Small Cap Japan, Norilsk Nickel, Plum Creek, Precious Metals & Mining, Preferreds, rifle, Rio Tinto, Southwest Water, SPDR DJ Wilshire International Real Estate, SPDR Russell, St. Joe, Sweden, Swiss, Switzerland, Tiffany, Unilever, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, Vanguard Value ETF, Wells Fargo, Whole foods

How should you improve your returns in the current low-growth environment? Take a look at this month’s Economic Analysis and review the year-to-date returns. This will help you understand what you’re going to need to profit from this market. With new money your focus should be on alternatives to the weak U.S. dollar. There are two components to this approach–precious metals and currency investment. I have long been an advocate for precious metals. In this month’s issue, I give you an overview of some of my top choices for foreign currency funds and four of the six countries that I feel are your best options. I also have a detailed rundown on my Top 10 Countdown along with some of our other Master Monster List stocks. Make it a good month.

Tags: aber diamond, Alcan, Alpha Natural Resources, American Express, Argentina, Australia, Big Mac, Black Hills, Bombardier, British Petroleum, Canada, citigroup, counterbalancing, Credit Suisse, currency, Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund, Federated Investors, Fidelity Canada, Fidelity International real Estate, Ford, Garmin, General Dynamics, harley-davidson, Imus, income tax, inference, iShares Australia, Japan, Jardine Matheson, johnson & johnson, NBC, Newmont Mining, Obama, Pepsi Bottling, Plum Creek, Precious Metals & Mining, reading, ruger, Russia, Singapore, Sturm, Switzerland, Syngenta, T. Rowe Price Emerging Europe & Mediterranean Fund, T. Rowe Price Japan, Tiffany, tort reform, United Kingdom, vanguard

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