Tranche update

Now that (hopefully) the bleeding has slowed, let's take a look at where my tranches stand overall and vs. the benchmark (VFINX)

Purchase date, MFI return, VFINX return

9/06, 37.59%, 15.52%. Ahh, remember the high-flying days when this one was up nearly 60%, led by WNR and FTO? So nice. Still, I'll take a nearly 38% return one month shy of a year any day.

11/06, -1.30%, 7.85%. Will this tranche be the first to actually lose principal? Its poor performance is led by the wipeout that is CLHI, a company in liquidation (half of which has already been distributed) and VCI, which was once nicely up but is now down due to poor 2Q results after a recent acquisition. This title says it all: Valassis 2Q Profit Falls 50 Percent. Lovely. The saving grace of this tranche is FCX, up 51.27%.

1/07, 6.75%, 5.18%. Slight pace ahead of the market. Led by OVTI (28.43% gain) and TRLG (14.75% gain) and dragged down by RAIL (17.02% loss)

3/07, -5.05%, 6.44%. THIS one hurts! 4 loss positions, ranging from a 3.52% loss (PNCL) to a 23.74% loss (OPTI). Only one gain position, LRW at 28.23%. Still more than half a year to go, and much could happen, but OUCH.

5/07, -1.92%, -2.05%. My MFI fund has already given back all its gains since May. All told, this is line with the market as far as I'm concerned. One high flyer, FDG at a 26.26% gain offset primarily by one big loser, MTEX at a 34.54% loss thanks to the Texas AG and a poor 2Q.

7/07, -4.07%, -3.71%. Basically even with the market. Actually has 3 solid gain positions, ranging from 3.24% (EPIQ) to 9.46% (LRCX). Unfortunately, dragged down horrendously by IVAC (29.94%) thanks to a reduced outlook.

Still, overall ahead of the benchmark. Return for open and closed tranches = 9.37% MFI vs. 7.62% VFINX. Overall weighted return since inception for MFI = 16.26% vs. S&P 500 = 9.48% (annualized amounts weighted = approx. 11.48% MFI vs. 6.69% S&P 500. Works for me.

Current MFI Fund price = $51.14/share. Last time at this price was 5/10/07. Peak was on 7/19/07 at $57.93. How's that for a fast decline (of nearly 12%!). The S&P in that same time frame lost nearly 6%. That's in only 10 trading days! Well, this is definitely not boring...