2007 Final

Actively managed portfolio: +11.3% (net after commissions)

The stated goal is 20-40% per year, up market or down, while managing risk (keeping relatively high cash levels) at all times. 11% cannot be considered a very successful year but 2007 was a buzz saw and the cash discipline kept me in the game through some very painful periods (at one point the port declined from +18% to -2% in the span of a very few weeks). There was a very costly vacation last summer during which I mostly let things ride and also recently a transfer out of e*trade (I shot first and asked questions later despite their pleas that all was well) during which I had to ride a couple things down lower than I would have liked.

The way I run the portfolio, I simply will not ever have a year where I make a killing (100%+ like you see some places) because I am never 'all in' and do not take the risks needed to accomplish that type of gain. But I should always outperform the broad market with another stated goal being to at least double the broad market's performance to the upside and avoid entirely any significant downside. That goal was in essence accomplished although 11% is not much better than the Nasdaq's performance.

Portfolio composition:

SHV (US T-bill fund) @ 36.5%
Gold/Silver miners (w/ some base metals exposure) @ 29.8%
Cash Reserve (current yield 4.7%) @ 20.8%
Uranium miners @ 5.3%
Base metal & gold royalty company @ 4.9%
Canadian Oil & Gas royalty trust @ 2.7%

Again, I want to wish you dear readers good luck in 2008. Keep your heads screwed on straight in the face of what is sure to be a blizzard of conflicting information coming at us.