Our 4-Hour Workweek

The fourth week of 2008 was choppy on Wall Street. Monday, thankfully the U.S. markets were closed, as the international markets fell dramatically, with fear and panic selling leading the way, foreboding a wild ride on Tuesday. And wild it was. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down nearly 600 points. The Federal Reserve stepped in with a surprise move and lowered the Federal Funds Rate rate by 3/4 of a point to 3.5%. The Dow rebounded, closing down 128 points. Wednesday, down by almost 300 points at lunchtime, the market rallied 600 points in the afternoon, closing up 299 points for the day. On Thursday the Dow was up another 108 points. Friday, the Dow drifted downwords most of the session, giving back 171 points for the day. What a week for the markets! Every day saw a triple digit swing, one way or the other. Expect to see more wild gyrations in the next few weeks. For the week:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose .9% (-8.0% year to date) to 12,207.17.
• The NASDAQ fell .6% (-12.3% year to date) to 2,326.20.
• The S&P 500 Index rose .4% (-9.4% year to date) to 1330.61.
• The Power Women 50 Index rose .2% (-8.1% year to date) to $86,764.60 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index rose .8% (-10.0% year to date) to $88,177.73. (details).
• The Dogs of the Dow rose 3.1% (-3.7% year to date) to $96,290.85 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash fell .6% (-10.4 year to date) to $21,636.51.
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds rose .2% (-12.2% year to date) to $59,820.13.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My friend Jim York always told me cash is king. And now I understand what he meant. My adopted mentor, Phil Town, agrees with Jim. Can you imagine the market ever reaching a P/E of 8? Well, it has in the past. And when it does, that is the best time to buy.

Read Phil Town's fascinating story on when cash is king.... and take heed !

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 2:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Want to teach your preschool child the value of a dollar and increase the little rug-rat's attitude around the house? Well check out this testimonial by Lynnae at Being Frugal. Click here for the complete article.

It's a keeper for me!

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 7:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The third week of 2008 proved to be another tough week on Wall Street with all the major indices down.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.0% (-8.8% year to date) to 12,099.30.
• The NASDAQ fell 4.1% (-11.8% year to date) to 2,340.02.
• The S&P 500 Index fell 5.4% (-9.8% year to date) to 1325.19.
• The Power Women 50 Index fell 4.6% (-8.2% year to date) to $86,616.25 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index fell 2.9% (-10.7% year to date) to $87,442.18. (details).
• The Dogs of the Dow fell 4.3% (-6.6% year to date) to $93,383.78 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash fell 5.4% (-9.9 year to date) to $21,775.01.
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds fell 8.5% (-12.4% year to date) to $59,726.16.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 6:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The second week of 2008 proved to be another tough week on Wall Street with all the major indices down.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5% (-5.0% year to date) to 12,606.30.
• The NASDAQ fell 2.6% (-8.0% year to date) to 2,439.94.
• The S&P 500 Index fell 0.5% (-4.6% year to date) to 1401.02.
• The Power Women 50 Index fell 0.5% (-3.8% year to date) to $90,773.99 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index fell 1.5% (-8.0% year to date) to $90,088.52 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash fell 4.6% (-4.6 year to date) to $23,027.66.
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds fell 0.8% (-5.5% year to date) to $65,267.19.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Markus Frind has never heard of Tim Ferriss. But, he sure follows the principles of Tim's 4-hour workweek. Markus puts in ten hours a week on his website Plenty Of Fish and nets $10 million a year.

Read today's New York Times article by Randall Stross to see how he does it.

Wow! Tim, you sure you didn't train this guy?

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first week of 2008 proved to be tough on Wall Street with all the major indices down.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.5% to 12,800.18.
• The NASDAQ fell 5.6% to 2,504.65.
• The S&P 500 Index fell 3.9% to 1411.63.
• The Power Women 50 Index fell 3.3% to $91,262.65 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index fell 6.6% to $91,455.60 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash broke even at $24,144.16
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds fell 3.8% to $66,559.61 (after a contribution of $1,043.28).

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Millonaire Mommy Next Door's story inspired me to add a new twist in documenting my journey to achieving a 4-hour workweek. My main strategy is not going to change. I will still focus on the business aspect. But I would like to add a new twist - documenting each of my moves with my 401K plan and tracking my bonus plan investments. You see, the Millionaire Mommy Next Door achieved the freedom to live anywhere and financial independence through a combination of wise investments and business ownership.

I started work at Avionics Systems Inc. (not my real company name) in March 2006, and immediately began investing in the company's 401K plan. The company matches my investment with a 75% kicker for the first 8% of my earnings and provides an additional 2% for my retirement. Initially, I contributed 10% of my earnings and bumped it up to 15% after my pay raise. Since March 2006, my 401K account has grown to $68,464.

Over the past two years, I received two bonuses and invested the entire amount (after taxes) in four companies: FMC Technologies (FTI), Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold (FCX), Holly Corporation (HOC) and The Procter and Gamble Company (PG).

Here are the details of my investments after the closing bell on December 31, 2007:

• Procter and Gamble (PG), 100 shares at $73.42 ($7,342);
• FMC Technologies (FTI), 100 shares at $56.70 ($5,670);
• Freeport Copper (FCX), 50 shares at $102.44 ($5,122);
• Holly Corp. (HOC), 100 shares at $50.89 ($5,089)
• Dodge and Cox Stock Fund, 60.581 shares at $138.26 ($8,375.93);
• Fidelity OTC Portfolio, 103.849 shares at $52.17 ($5,417.80);
• Fidelity International Discovery Fund, 125.877 shares at $43.08 ($5,472.78);
• Fidelity International Diversified, 337.894 shares at $39.90 ($13,481.97);
• Fidelity Blue Chip Growth, 303.568 shares at $44.06 ($13,375.21);
• Allianz NFJ Small-Cap Value Institutional Class, 402.044 shares at $30.76 ($12,366.87);
• Avionics Systems Inc., 273.024 shares at $35.25 ($9,624.10);
• Cash of $932.66;
• Total = $92,270.32

How many years will it take to grow this initial amont to $1,000,000? At 12% return on investment (ROI), 22 years; 15% ROI, 18 years; 20% ROI, 14 years; 25% ROI, 11 years. I hope to do it quicker by adding money each year to my 401K plan and investing all of my bonus each year.

Well, let's see how long it will take.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek

Posted by Pierre Cutler at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)