Down goes the Dow

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Historically, the three main asset classes have been equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), and cash equivalent or money market instruments.

Cash and cash equivalents represent actual cash on hand and securities
that are similar to cash. This type of investment is considered very low
risk since there is little to no chance of losing your money. That
peace of mind means the returns are also lower than other asset classes.
Examples of cash and cash equivalents include cash parked in a savings account as well as U.S. government Treasury bills (T-bills), guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), and money market funds. Generally, the greater the risk of losing money, the greater the prospective return.

investopedia.com

What Are Asset Classes? More Than Just Stocks and Bonds

Akhilesh Ganti

An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations.

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First day of December and a little check in (Note: I didn't count my coin jar or any other such non-investments in this...just for transparency.):

Dow YTD: UP 19.16%

Flagpole YTD: UP 19.36%

So, for now, I'm ahead. What will the end of the year bring? Doesn't matter to me, but whatever it is, it WILL rile some of you up. I don't understand that, but whatever. Maybe worry about your damn selves.

Hilarious. Just hilarious. You are posting the wrong YTD total return for the Dow. The YTD total return for the Dow is 21.21%. You need to google "total return." Your "beating the Dow 33 out of 35 years" is just garbage. You are just looking at the index appreciation but neglecting to add in the dividends. Hilarious, Flagpole!

I am not able to link sites on the computer but go to "Dow Jones Industrial Average total return performance and stats." Be sure to click on "returns" and select "YTD."

I don't NEED to do anything. I can weigh my returns against ANYTHING I like. I can weigh them against numbers of stupid MAAGs if I want...in that case, I would lose BIGLY.

Soooo you are not comparing your portfolio's performance against the actual Dow performance for the year? You are using an inaccurate number for the Dow. Hey, do what you wanna do.

INCORRECT!

Dow YTD: UP 19.16%

Wrong. The correct Dow Jones YTD TOTAL return for 2024 is 21.21%.

Dow YTD: UP 19.16%

Really advanced discussion going on here...

flagpole man you are digging your heels in on things you should not dig your heels in on.

take a deep breath, write down pros and cons

argue the other side and see how that sound to you.

you are being irrational and dogmatic on a couple things.

I know you don't want to be that.

Although Flagpole has a methodist background, he comes across more Woodrow Wilson (presbyterian) than John Wesley. This H.L. Mencken quote from Puritanism As a Literary Force describes him well;
"his unmatchable intolerance of opposition, his unbreakable belief in
his own bleak and narrow views, his savage cruelty of attack, ...—these things have put an almost unbearable burden upon the exchange of ideas in the United States"

I have no idea what Bitcoin's high will be in 2025. I think it'll be a bull market but there's always the potential of a bear market. And if the US government as a whole - instead of Detroit lol - accepts it it'd certainly rise

If I'd have to guess I'd view $110k as a low end and $200k as a high end. $140 is my prediction

INCORRECT!

I can measure my returns in any way I choose.

Dow YTD: UP 19.16%

ok good

tell us in a rational way why you count dividends as returns in your own performance

but you don't count dividends as returns in your benchmark.

or just tell us that you are sometimes willfully irrational and we should take that into account when reading your posts.

FP, Yes you can measure your returns in any way you choose, but comparisons by their very nature assume consistent metrics. You insist on using a dissimilar metric from that of the DJIA. Your portfolio assumes dividend reinvestment in the calculation and the form of the DJIA index you compare it to DOES NOT.

It is this simple, for the purposes of comparing race times, everyone agrees to use Gun Time, but you insist on using Chip Time. And it is not a fair comparison for that reason. If you want to keep using your method, you should make it clear every single time that you note the comparison that you are not making an accurate(equal) comparison and why. To hide this fact is disingenuous to say the least.

It is easy to get the Total Return (included Dividend reinvestment) by simply googling Total Return DJIA, click YTD time frame, and divide ending number by the Jan.1 number. I just did it and it is in fact 21%.

It is actually even easier than that. Go to that site. Click on YTD and then click on "Returns" right next to "Level" and then Voila! There you have it.

Understood, but the site I was on just happened to require a subscription to do so, and it's easy enough to just plug the numbers in in lieu of having it kick them our for us.

Edit: Ok, found the icon to click on the site you referenced earlier, and here it is. Just click RETURNS on the top of the page and select YTD:

Instead of the DJIA I compare my performance against the DOW30 tracking ETF DIA. The ETF is investable, has a management fee and pays a dividend therefore replicates what I am doing. Total returns for the ETF are easy to calculate and I'm comparing dollars to dollars and not dollars to points

Lake Flagpole: “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, all the children are above average, and all your investments beat the Dow.”