April is finally here, and I hope this longish, snowy, cold winter is finally ending. I heard on the news that the Cherry blossom festival in Washington DC, did not have the cherry blossoms. They are blooming now. I noticed on my walk yesterday the trees that are normally leafed out by now here locally are just starting to bud. The Pear trees are just about in full bloom, a few weeks late. Better late than not at all! I am afraid the pollen is going to be a problem this year.
There are a few issues I wanted to blog about, but did not have the time to formulate my thoughts into writing. Now its seems like too late to write those thoughts into a post. Time to move on to other issues I think.
Investment update, the stock market was so so in the first quarter of the year. Today we begin a new quarter and hope for better times. Of course we cannot always expect the stock markets to be always positive. the bull will give way to the bear from time to time. Or there are bubbles in particular sectors. I have completed a re-balance of my Roth portfolio, but the new stocks I want to add are expensive, so I will wait for those to moderate their price. I have added some fixed income mutual funds that are no load, no transaction fee funds. I did consider moving my Roth to another firm that charges less for trades. However, when you add the cost of transferring and other fees, it was not worth it, and would be a wash.
401K, my employer is changing from one investment service provider to another. This is on top of a 2012 change in how they match my contribution, and the defined benefit they provide. So I will need to evaluate how I am invested in light of what this new provider offers. Maybe it will have something better to offer.
That is all to share for now. Happy April! Happy Spring!
