"Randall Mauro Nailed it"

Listen to W. Scott O’Neil , portfolio manager for O’Neil Data Systems, Inc. and president of MarketSmith along with Amy Smith, Investors’ Business Daily (http://www.investors.com) radio and TV commentator talk about my entry into the market in December 2011 after being in cash for 4.5 months – avoiding a nasty 16.85% drop for our clients.

They emphasize Resnn's 'bigger picture' approach to analyzing the market's health by focusing on the market as a whole instead of looking at individual stocks.  Of particular interest is how they mention that most traders were afraid to enter the market when we did because 'they are listening to their emotions (fear), instead of looking at the data.  As you know this is one of our most important principles that we preach to up and coming traderes ... in order to do well in the market, you must take an emotionless, data-driven approach.

Watch the snippet where they speak about me specifically at: http://youtu.be/RwJMMESekm4

or ... watch the entire archived version of their ‘Master the Market’ at …

http://www.marketsmith.com/Learn/webinar/archived/639323/MastertheMarketwithScottONeil

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Investors' Business Daily is the nation's largest daily investment newspaper with 333,000 print subscribers and 24,000,000 monthly page views at their subscription only website. 

Resnn goes fully to cash today

Today's weakness triggered our sell signals and caused us to completly exit the market.  Our client portfolio's are now fully in cash.

The market has been struggling over the past few weeks to make new highs, especially the technology heavy Nasdaq.  In fact QQQ (an ETF that mirrors the movement of the Nasdaq 100 largest stocks) has literally not made a penny for the entire month.  A rally without the support of these stocks is definitely worrisome and something that has been bothering me for some time.  A sustainable rally that has staying power needs to have widespread support with all major stocks mirroring the upside move, and this is just not what we've been seeing over the past few weeks.  Looking over history, no rally has continued for very long without this widespread support.

Although our trading model does not take my feelings or emotions into account since it is strictly quantitative and data focused, I do find it interesting that I am seeing various 'cracks' forming, and the data that we use to make our trading decisions is corroborating my concern ~ also showing weakness.

Although the market may continue to rise, protection is the most important rule at Resnn.  You've probably heard me say ... rule #1 is to protect our client investments, and only AFTER we have achieved rule one, do we move on to the second rule ... which is 'making money'.  So, for now we protect our investments by being extra cautious and sitting on the sidelines.  It is quite possible we may be back in the market in a few days ... but in the mean time, I'd much rather miss a few percent move up than the alternative.

Stay safe out there ...

Thank you Interactive Brokers!

Just found out that we have been awarded a seat in Interactive Brokers' (http://www.interactivebrokers.com) 'Money Manager Marketplace' based on "consistent performance and superior downside protection" for our clients' portfolios. 

Out of literally thousands of Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) firms that Interactive Brokers' services, there are only 26 that have previously been awarded this distinction.  We are very honored to have this under our belts.

Resnn protects our clients, moving more assets to cash

Seeing weakness in the market, we moved our client portfolio's further into the safety of cash today.  At the close we went from 75% invested to 55%.  This means that we now have 45% of our client's assets sitting safely in cash protected out of the market.  Our latest blog update at: http://resnn.blogspot.com

Although I am hopeful that we will see strength pick up soon, for now a short term (small) correction seems likely. 

Staying protected in cash is the right place to be until the market makes up its' mind whether it wants to go higher or not.  This could all change tomorrow, but for now I prefer to keep our clients in a defensive mode.

Resnn moves more to cash - 75% invested

Due to weakness yesterday and Apple’s after hours disappointing earnings release (down 12.5% today!), we moved our client accounts off margin early this morning.  Since then, we took a wait and see approach to see if the market could stabilize throughout the day and unfortunately the market closed in a very weak position. 

As a result we have moved more funds OUT of the market.  Our clients are now 75% invested in the market (25% safely in cash).

What does this mean? … is the market going to tumble from here?

Probably not, but a cautious approach going forward is warranted.  I don’t pretend for a moment to be able to predict the future of the market, but our data analysis has been showing a lot of selling in the background over the past few days and the market certainly seems to be struggling to continue higher.  We have had a good run since the low in November (historically November, December and January are the best months of the year for the market) and although we certainly could continue up after a short rest, the Resnn model excels at taking a defensive posture, moving to cash quickly when weakness is prevalent thereby protecting our client portfolios from downward movements.

Time will tell how correct our signals are this go’round, but while we wait for that to happen, we will certainly have our client’s interests at the forefront, protecting their investment.

Please feel free to call or email with any questions or comments.

Respectfully,

Randall Mauro

Resnn Investments, LLC

margin exit - a cautionary move

Due to the volatility in the market last night (mostly as a result of Apple’s disappointing earnings) we took a cautionary approach and moved a portion of the portfolio to cash.

For those of you that were on margin, we have taken you off margin and moved 10% of your account into cash, so 90% of your portfolio is still in the market).  For those of you that were NOT on margin, we have moved 10% of your account into cash (90% still invested).

This allocation could all change later today or tomorrow as the market reacts in a secondary wave, but in times like this taking a cautious approach wins over the long haul.  Protecting your investment is the name of the game.

FYI – we locked in a nice profit on your account by selling today.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to call or email.

Respectfully,

Randall Mauro

Resnn Investments, LLC

Resnn returns 29.5% in 2012 - another year doubling the return of the market

The results are in, We are very proud to tell our clients that Resnn has once again doubled the return of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in 2012 and beat the Dow Jones by more than four times!  More importantly … Resnn’s return occurred with less risk.

Resnn’s actual return was 29.5% is 2012 vs.

Nasdaq: 15.9%

S&P500: 13.4%

Dow Jones: 7.3%

How did your investments do?  We would love to have you as a client if you are not already.  Please call us to discuss how we can help you grow your investments while protecting you during volatile declines.

Did you know the average mutual fund performed worse than the market … in fact in 2012 (according to CNN) only 21% of all mutual funds beat the market! http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/23/pf/fund_manager_performance.moneymag/index.htm

Worse still, study after study shows that only 1 out of 4 investment advisors and money managers beat the market.  Want to beat the market by paying a professional … you’ve got a 25% chance it will happen L

I challenge you to check YOUR year-end brokerage statements, you will probably be shocked to find that YOUR investments for 2012 did worse than if you just bought a passive index fund and didn’t pay your investment advisor (or active mutual fund) to manage your money. 

== MORE DETAIL ABOUT HOW WE CONSISTENTLY OUTPERFORM THE MARKET BELOW ==

The difference is quite stunning, on a $1,000,000 account this would have resulted in an additional $160,000 in your pocket (compared with the SP500) or $16,000 on a $100,000 initial investment.

Less risk overall - What’s most impressive is that the returns were achieved while taking LESS risk.  The market corrected hard twice this year.  Measuring drawdown, the Nasdaq fell over 12% (from March 26^th through June 1^st), while Resnn’s accounts only fell 2.9% in the same time period, and again (from September 14^th through November 15^th) the Nasdaq fell 10.9% while Resnn’s accounts fell 8.8%.  Drawdown is measured by taking the highest point to the lowest point, to measure how much your portfolio would have been affected at its’ worst point in time … a good measure of risk.

In Cash half the year – Our client accounts were in cash almost half of the year (48% of the time).  Cash is a valid place to protect your money in volatile, unhealthy times!

Day Trading?  no way!  our average hold time is 3 months.  In fact this year we have only placed 12 round trips trades (24 total trades).

2013 is starting out quite impressively and we are hopeful that it will continue to be a stellar year for all investors, but history shows that the market goes through 2 to 3 corrections every year.  We look forward to keeping our client accounts protected and growing regardless of what the future has in store for us.

I invite you to call me personally to discuss your current investment strategy and how we can help you achieve your long term financial goals.

Respectfully,

Randall Mauro

Resnn Investments, LLC

Disclaimers –

1)      The above performance numbers were achieved in our “the One” strategy which uses margin when appropriate.  For our clients with non-margin accounts the annual performance was 15.2% with considerably less drawdown (risk) than the all benchmarks.

2)      The above performance numbers are measured before deducting Resnn’s fees.  Actual returns after deducting all Resnn fees was an inspiring, market beating 26.25% for non-qualified clients.  For qualified clients using our Alpha Performance Fee the after fee return was 26.34% and 22.81% using our Standard Performance Fee).  These fee calculations assume an account balance of $200,000.00.

Happy New Year ~ my resolution to you ...

On behalf of Resnn, I want to welcome you to 2013 and wish you a Happy New Year!  May it be full of health, happiness and prosperity.  

Time for those pesky resolutions - This past week I had the good fortune to get some quiet time to do what most of us of do this time of year and reflect on the successes and failures of the previous year and set goals for the upcoming one.  

I apologize ahead of time for the length of this post, I hope you will find it helpful, If it doesn’t apply to you, please help me by forwarding it to someone that could benefit by getting their financial plan in order … we would love to help them.

My resolution to you – I want to share a goal that I have (that I made exactly one year ago, and renewed my commitment to this week) is to help my clients achieve their financial goals.  I don’t mean just making you more money and keeping it safe in volatile markets (although that is obviously of paramount importance); I am referring to helping YOU to realize YOUR non-financial goals that require money to achieve.  Things like paying for your kids college, retiring at a certain age, planning for life ‘after you are gone’ plan ~ creating a trust and will, taking your grandkids on a cruise, planning an ‘exotic’ trip, heck … sky diving … anything that you’ve always wanted to accomplish and have yet to.

What is WEALTH to me? - As many of you have heard me say already, Wealth to me is NOT about driving a Ferrari, but is about having enough to be able to spend it on (and with) the people you love ~ Enough money to be able to create memories for the ones you love, to provide for people, and do the things you have always wanted to do.  

The top ten resolutions - So, with that said, I want to offer my help in achieving YOUR New Year resolutions (see top ten list below).  In fact, I want to help you check off items 1, 5, 7, and 10 on this list, and you can help me check off number 9 on my list :)
According to about.com, the top ten resolutions are:

1)      Spend more time with family & friends

2)      Exercise more and get fit

3)      Lose Weight

4)      Quit Smoking

5)      Enjoy Life More

6)      Quit Drinking

7)      Get out of Debt

8)      Learn Something New

9)      Help Others

10)   Get Organized

Most people fail at their resolutions - Unfortunately, most resolutions we make are destined for failure.  In fact, a 2007 study by the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning.

What was interesting about the results of the study was that people achieved their goal 22% more often when they engage in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a pound a week, instead of saying "lose weight"), and 10% more succeeded when they made their goals public and got support from their friends.

“Resolutions are more sustainable when shared, both in terms of with whom you share the benefits of your resolution, and with whom you share the path of maintaining your resolution.”

How to success at your resolution - So, don’t just set a resolution and stop there, but sit down over the next week to create a “game plan” as to how to achieve the goal.  The important point is to set very small achievable “mini” goals.  You want to lose 20 lbs … create a plan to lose 2 lbs. a month.  Include in your game plan the following to improve your odds of success …

1. A “sustainable” fitness and diet plan (nothing too hard or intense since this will make it hard to achieve … remember it needs to be sustainable).
2.  Friends that will get out and walk/run with you … hard work is more fun when you have people to go through it with you.
3. Get your spouse involved so that the food in the house is geared toward health and you are held accountable when you finish off that pizza.

You get the idea … try to break each project down into easy to achieve mini-goals that will keep you motivated and get help and support. 

How can Resnn help you achieve your financial goals? - So, how can Resnn help you?  We want to give you direction and help you to create YOUR ‘Financial Game Plan’.  In fact, for our clients, we do this AT NO CHARGE as a standard part of our business.

What is the most important first step - The first step in the process is to “get organized” … how many of you have a “Financial Inventory Worksheet”?      A Financial Inventory Worksheet (FIW) is a document that shows all of your investments / assets along with all recurring bills / liabilities coupled with their corresponding account numbers and contact information to make it incredibly easy for your beneficiaries to get up to speed on your financial situation instantly.

Imagine, instead of having to call credit card companies and mortgage companies and basically try to guess at things, your loved ones had a simple document to reference that listed all account information to make it easy for them to pick up the pieces.

This document is a MUST if you have children under 18, but even if not … If you’ve ever been through a parent or grandparent passing away, you know how difficult it can be to figure out their financial situation at a time when you really just want to grieve.  I personally take care of all our financial matters in our household, so imagine how difficult it would be for my wife if something were to happen to me without having a road map of our assets and liabilities … our FIW will help her get through a difficult with ease.  

After you have your FIW created and stored in a safe place, we then can move on to the next step in getting “financially fit”, which I will document in a future post.  

I apologize for the length of this post, and hope you found it worth your time.  I am looking forward to 2013, especially in regard to my goals listed above … at helping each and every one of you to get your ‘financial game plan’ in order and to helping you to achieve your financial goals.

Please give me a call (or email) to discuss the above and how we can get you on track.

A very warm wish of Happiness and Prosperity in 2013,

Respectfully, 

Randall Mauro

Resnn Investments, LLC