The Investment Grade Value Stock Index - Continued

History of the Investment Grade Value Stock Index

The IGVSI was developed in December of 2007 to provide a benchmark for the equity portion of Market Cycle Investment Management portfolios. For more than ten years, Investment Grade Value Stock investors had been frustrated by the inadequacies of the DJIA and the NYSE indices. During that period. NYSE Issue Breadth and New High vs. New Low Statistics frequently moved in different directions than the averages.

Since 2005, the popularity of Closed End Index Funds has altered the statistical playing field, making NYSE "market stats" nearly worthless. There are fewer than 400 Investment Grade Value Stocks, yet NYSE "issue breadth" numbers report trading of over 3,000 issues per day. Similarly, the advanced/declined" number have become derivative report cards, making it difficult for IGVS investors to zoom in on their area of interest.

Hoping to answer the now ludicrous question: "whatever happened to stocks and bonds?", several old school diagnostics are presented here.

The IGVSI chart tracks the most fundamentally sound companies on the planet. The IGVSI "Bargain Stock Monitor" analyzes individual issue and sector pricing for better decision making. IGVSI Issue Breadth and 52-week "High vs. Low" numbers help to complete the equity environment trend picture, and the "Expectation Analyzer" discussion will help you fine-tune your performance expectations.

Two other indices, the Working Capital Model Select Income (WCMSI) and the Working Capital Model Select Municipals (WCMSM) report on the movement of managed closed-end income funds of the type contained in Market Cycle Investment Management portfolios.

All of these important numbers are presented for your information only...

Most investors misuse, even abuse, the statistics they have contact with. Statistics are historical data, and none can actually predict anything. What they are best used for is to formulate performance expectations --- a skill that must be mastered for long-term investment success.

The IGVSI is a new index, but one that is becoming an accepted benchmark for assessing the performance of the "Equity Bucket" of Market Cycle Investment Management portfolios.

The income portion of a portfolio demands separate attention, and a pretty much blind focus on income. Click here for a helpful article on that subject, or study Chapter Five of The Brainwashing of the American Investor "What Your Mother Never Told You About Income Investing".

The WCMSI is presented with the IGVSI to give you a feel for what is going on in the income portion of your investment portfolio --- the WCMSM examines a sampling of closed-end Municipal Bond funds.