furlough week 3 ...

Where we're at:

dow: 9370
s&p: 1010.48
VIX: 24.76
10 yr: 3.85
SandP P/E: 17.34

equity: 35.1
bonds: 30.7
cash: 34.2

1 yr: -4.97%

Another rise in the equity markets this two weeks, the s&p is over 1000 for the first time in ~10 months. Our asset mix is slowly moving to the mix I want. I sold some TXT this week to get down to 10% in the 401(k). I think if the VIX gets much lower I'm going to stop tracking it. I'm getting nervous about how far the equity market has come up since March. I'm not going to sell anything, but I'm going to back off the purchases a bit. The bond market seems to be forecasting a rise in rates. The 10 year rate has risen about 50 basis points in the last 4 weeks. Glad I am switching some intermediate money to short term.

In our weekly meeting, we talked about how the attitude around CSNA seems to be improving. Lead thinks no furloughs next year and possibly a merit increase. A team mate spoke to our director and, based on that, thinks our group may avoid a layoff in the 4th qtr. J is getting good reviews from work and her product knowledge and cold calling is paying off with new sales. Based on that, I'm going to ease into spending some money later in the year and replace our kitchen flooring. I'm also going to take just one day of pay for this week's furlough and carry some vacation into 2010 for next summer.