Getting Technical.com

iShares or ETFs are open-ended mutual fund trusts, units of which
are listed and traded on major stock exchanges just like individual stocks.

ETFs offer investors the advantages of a traditional mutual fund,
plus the trading freedom of a stock, at a very low price.

What are the benefits of investing in iUnits?.

Ease of buying shares through your regular broker,
No redemption fees when units are sold on the exchange.
Only customary brokerage commissions apply.

The use of ETFs is probably the most effective and efficient way to rebalance a portfolio.

Objective

To outperform the local benchmark by rotating through a mix of twelve S&P/TSX Sub Indices.

Methodology:

The benchmark is the S&P/TSX60 or the TSX listed i60 Index.
A fully invested strategy is adopted and no market timing will be attempted.
The portfolio shall hold a maximum of five of the S&P/TSX Sub Indices.
The portfolio will be re-balanced once a quarter as dictated by a monthly sector ranking table published by Getting Technical.
Income from the invested components and trading fees are excluded from the model.
Total conversion into iUnits or ETF's is done at year end December 29, 2006.


The opening portfolio is created on March 31, 2003 with $50,000 invested “equal money” into five S&P/TSX sub indices as selected in our Rotation Table. At the close of June 30, 2003 our quarterly net is $54,483 or +9.0%.
Two trades. The Gold component is replaced with Information Technology and the Diversified Metals & Mining component is replaced with Health Care. At the close of September 30, 2003 our quarterly net jumps to $57,917 or +6.3%.
One trade. The Energy component is replaced with Diversified Metals & Mining. This generates our 3rd winning quarter. At the close of December 30, 2003 our net jumps to $64,814 or +11.9%.
One trade. The Health Care component is replaced with the S&P/TSX CDN Mid Cap Index. This generates our 4th winning quarter. At the close of March 30, 2004 our net jumps to $69,898 or +7.8%.
Two trades. Telecommunication Services component is replaced with Materials & the Financial component is replaced with the Gold index. At the close of June 30, 2004 Gold hurts our return and we creep up to $70,400 or a +0.7% gain.
One trade. The Gold component is replaced with the Energy Index. We give back some of those big Information Technology gains and at the close of September 30, 2004 we experience our first draw down to $70,233 or -0.2%.
One trade. The Materials component is replaced with the Financial Services Index. We experience a broad recovery in all sectors. At the close of December 30, 2004 we rebound to $75,629 for a gain of +7.7%.
One trade. The Information Technology component is replaced with the Income Trust Index. We again experience a broad recovery in all sectors and at the close of March 31, 2005 we rebound to $82,204 for a gain of +8.7%.
Two trades. The S&P/TSX CDN Mid Cap Index is replaced with Telecommunication Services and the Financial Services component is replaced with the Consumer Staples Index. At the close of June 30, 2005 we creep up to $83,930 or a +2.1% gain.
One trade. The Consumer Staples component is replaced with the S&P/TSX Utilities Index. We again experience a broad recovery in all sectors. At the close of September 30, 2005 we rebound to $99,248 for a gain of +18.3%.
This quarter there will be no trade. We give back some Energy gains and at the close of December 30, 2005 we realize a small gain to $99,666 or + 0.42% for the quarter.
The portfolio will now be rebalanced to “equal money” positions as we setup for the Q1 of 2006. Two trades as the Income Trust and Telecom groups are replaced with Financials and Utilities. At the close of March 31, 2006 Golds and Metals soar and we rebound to $108,232 for a gain of +8.6%.
The TSX Composite slips 4.1% and we gain 2.1% thanks to our exposure to Diversified Metals & Mining. Three of our positions suffer minor losses for the quarter.
Energy tumbles 12% and the portfolio declines 2.9%. This is only our second losing quarter since inception at March 31, 2003. At the close of September 29, 2006 Energy and Industrials are replaced with Telecommunication Services and Financials.
The TSX Composite rebounds 7.4% and we have a healthy gain 13.3% with three sectors generating double digit returns for the quarter. This completes the year and we shall now re-balance as dictated by our Sector Ranking Tables. We shall also convert to relevant Exchange Traded Funds when available.
Gains in Metals & Mining and the Telecom sectors are reduced by a loss in iShares Gold. At the close of March 30,2007 we end the quarter with a 2.2% gain slightly above the TSX Composite gain of 2%.
The TSX Composite recovers with a 5.6% gain and we rebound 10.5% with two sectors generating double digit returns for the quarter. This completes the second quarter and we now re-balance as dictated by our Sector Ranking Tables.
Gains in the TSX Metals & Mining and iShares CDN Materials (XMA) offset small losses in iShares CDN Info Tech (XIT) and TSX Telecommunication Services At the close of September 28,2007 we end the quarter with a 3.8% gain well above the TSX Composite gain of 1.4%.
A poor 4th quarter as the TSX Composite slips 1.9%. We are hurt by our heavy exposure to TSX Diversified Metals & Mining sector that corrects 13.5% for the quarter. This completes the fourth quarter and we now re-balance to begin Q1 2008 with an "equal money" 5-sector weighting.
We had no exposure to financials but losses in Information Technology (XIT) and TSX Telecommunication Services hurt our commodity exposure. At the close of March 31,2008 we end the first quarter with a 4.2% loss slightly under a TSX Composite loss of 3.5%.
Our 2nd quarter perfomance to June 19, 2008 is impressive with a 13.9% gain. All sectors have generated positive returns. We retain these positions through the quarter and will re-balance at the end of June 2008.
Summary of returns (excluding dividends and other income): The Model and two benchmarks March 31, 2003 to December 31, 2007. Nineteen quarter S&P/TSX Composite capital (annualized) gain +17.8%. Nineteen quarter S&P500 Index capital (annualized) gain +12.2%. Nineteen quarter Rotation Portfolio capital (annualized) gain +23.2%.