August 2011 Financial Asset Roundup

Here are my current financial assets as of the market close on August 11th, 2011:

Asset	Jul 2011	Aug 2011	Change
Checking	1,779	2,221	442
Money Market	42,651	33,108	-9,543
Savings Bonds	37,051	47,098	10,047
Treasury Bills	0	0	0
CDs	98,944	99,358	414
Brokerage	106,900	92,534	-14,366
401k	102,095	88,600	-13,495
Roth IRA	52,121	47,106	-5,015
SEP IRA	257,164	256,504	-660
529 Savings	55,657	52,925	-2,732
Total Assets	$754,362	$719,454	-$34,908
			(-4.63%)

The S&P 500 has taken quite a beating since the last update, dropping 11.13% during that time:

(chart courtesy of etrade.com)

Despite the market volatility driven by the debt ceiling debacle and the follow-up S&P downgrade, the unemployment rate for July fell slightly to 9.1%. Oil prices have continued to decline along with the stock market, falling from about $94 per barrel to around $85 per barrel.

On the financial front, I have finally finished funding my 2010 SEP IRA contribution, which took some of the bite out of my financial asset losses since my last update. Also, in light of the announcement from the U.S. Treasury to kill off the sale of paper savings bonds at financial institutions starting in 2012, I decided to bite the bullet and pull the trigger on $10k worth of July 2011 issue Series I paper savings bonds ($5k with my ssn and $5k with Mrs. Frugalson's ssn) with the intention of following up with an electronic savings bond purchase next month. At this point, it makes plenty of sense to jump on any good deal for a place to put cash that you come across with the FOMC planning on keeping rates low for 2+ more years. :(

While there is not much to like with regard to personal finance these days, I was pleased to see the landscaper that fixed the $$$ flood damage in my yard last year drive by as I was writing this without stopping here. Thank goodness for small favors...