I made the local news!

My local paper ran a story about this trip! I am quoted as saying that ""I know what a big hot Southern city on the Mississippi is like." My family has lived in Memphis for a couple of decades, but as much as I might be familiar with heat like we worked in today, or southern cooking and living next to the Mississippi, I know very little about New Orleans or about a city as wounded as this one, as I learn more and more each day. money

Here are a couple of 'houses' on the same streets as the homes we are building. money


The same news article quotes: "A lot of neighborhoods are still devastated," said Habitat for Humanity spokesman Aleis Tusa.. "It's strange to think two years later we have people living in FEMA trailers." money

Strange to think, but true. money

Day one with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans

We got up early in the morning and took a cab over to the Musicians' Village site. The project managers gave a safety talk and then tried to figure out which way to send us. There were several hundred volunteers and it was turning into the hottest day of the year so far (they told us) and they had an event planned for later in the day so I'm not sure they were as coordinated as usual. money


Truth is, there was plenty of work to do in both directions! money

Some sites are just getting foundations: money


Other houses are almost done: money


We spent most of the day moving supplies from around the homes near completion to the site just breaking ground. money

In the afternoon, the first wall was raised on the 41st home in the project! money

We Made it!

We took off from Boston the morning and made it to New Orleans early afternoon. We walked around the city a bit after we checked in to our hotel. More than one building, even in the French Quarter is in rough shape, but signs of construction are evident as well. Here is the view up a debris chute: money


Buskers were doing their thing: money



And sometimes, the passers by joined in!


We walked down Bourbon street on our way to get groceries for lunch tomorrow: money


I'm off to sleep as we are getting up early to head to the Musicians' Village and see what our work for the week will be! money

The entire team is contributing to a blog and some of these posts will appear there as well. money

Heading to New Orleans!

I mentioned before that I am am going to New Orleans for a week with a group of my colleagues from Berklee College of Music to work with Habitat for Humanity on the Brandford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. inspired project to build a Musician's Village in the Upper 9th Ward. money

Well I'm packing today and off tomorrow morning. money

It has been a busy week as I have been preparing so I have mostly ignored the rollercoaster ride the portfolios I have been tracking on this site have taken over the last few days. I intend to continue to ignore the markets for a while longer and focus on this amazing opportunity. Part of the reason, my investing strategy is to (hypothetically) invest in a diverse group of mutual funds and setup a system of for continuous investing, is so I can ignore it when I need or want to and this is one of those times! Following the progress of individual stocks or companies requires much more continuous attention to news about those holdings as things can change pretty fast. If I had the time, inclination, or hypothetical finances I think I would need to follow such a strategy, I might give it a try. But I don't. money

I was interviewed about my upcoming trip to New Orleans by my local paper this week and will link to the story when they run it. money

Also, the eight of us going will be contributing to a blog about our experience and I will add the link to that here when we are ready to roll it out. money

More about the trip soon!

What the heck is Janus Contrarian?

When I noted the market was tanking today, I decided to make my hypothetical investment for June in the second fund of the "WylieMoney Slowly" portfolio. In this portfolio I am adding one of the 20 funds I researched each month, starting in May 2007. money

The second fund I originally chose was a Global Equity fund: MDISX. money

Well according to Etrade, this fund is closed to new investors:

But according to Morningstar, this fund is not closed and is available through Etrade: money

Regardless of whether this is a mistake on Etrade's site or not, getting someone to help you is not worth the effort. money

So I decided to pick my original runner up, Janus Contrarian JSVAX. This brings me to the title for this post. money

Back in November of 2006, it was open to new investors and it was categorized as World Stock or Global Equity. But tonight, as I look it up, it is not. Morningstar lists it as Large Blend which means it invests primarily in Large Cap American companies. money

Morningstar also shows that it is a Large Cap Growth fund. Note the red dot.


But more curious to me is the allocation of 37.8% in non-American companies!


Why does this matter? Well funds are compared to their peers. So if your peers are domestic funds and you have been gaining profits from surging international markets, you are going to look great compared to your peers:


But if your peers are World Funds which invest in stocks all over the world, you are not likely to look as stellar:


Well MDISX is 70% invested in international companies so it certainly has more of an international focus now than JSVAX but JSVAX has a 39% turnover ratio so who knows what it looked like last December, much less what it will look like in 6 months. money

Regardless, I'm calling it a Global Equity fund and I added it to the WylieMoney slowly portfolio tonight as of today's closing price. money