##### Index and sector ETFs >Start here if you're new to self-directed investing [IVV](https://www.ishares.com/us/products/239726/ishares-core-sp-500-etf) - S&P 500, 0.03% fee [State Street sector ETFs](https://www.ssga.com/us/en/individual/capabilities/equities/sector-investing/select-sector-etfs) - 0.08% fee - [Seasonality rotation](https://equityclock.com/seasonality/), e.g. healthcare and staples (XLV/XLP) worked well for May-Sep in 2026 - Contrarian investing, e.g. energy sector (XLE) peaked at ~15% of S&P 500 in 2008, now hovers around 3%—near its historical lows. ##### Diversified companies >These are value-oriented investment companies that historically achieve 10%+ returns, and they may complement your existing 401(k) portfolio with heavy exposure to tech and growth. [BRK B](https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html) - CAGR 10.7% vs 10.3% S&P 500 (since 1996), Berkshire Hathaway B shares, ~$500/sh. [CET](https://www.cefconnect.com/fund/CET) - CAGR 10.3% vs 10.6% S&P 500, **0.46% fee**, primary holding Plymouth Rock Co is undervalued [FNV](https://www.franco-nevada.com/investors/overview/default.aspx) - CAGR 17.7% vs 11.1% S&P 500, gold/oil royalty benchmark ##### Bonds > These fixed-income funds yield 5-8% with low to moderate credit risk. Tilted towards long-duration bonds as they generate a bit of carry at sub 5% margin interest rate. Could hedge portfolio once rates drop during a recession. LTPZ - YTM 5.4% (CPI + ~3%), 15+ yr TIPS TLT - YTM 5.3%, 20+ yr treasury bond MSD - 8.3% div, emerging market bond CEF, USD denominated, no currency risk NMZ - 8.0% div, junky municipal bond CEF, dividend exempt from federal tax ##### Worth a look (DYOR) >Non-canonical choices to diversify from the market. Interesting tickers to follow in any case, but caution and due diligence needed. [ORR](https://militiaetf.com/) - I personally like this fund manager David Orr. You can follow him on [X](https://x.com/orrdavid?lang=en), and this ETF is a proxy and tax-efficient wrapper to his [hedge fund](https://www.militiacapital.com/). If you dig into its portfolio, you will have an idea of how a long-short fund is constructed. But he only has a 5-year track record and his portfolio has a very heavy exposure to Japan. [FRMO](https://www.frmocorp.com/) - I once used it as my cash reserve, with low correlation to general market. Basically, hard assets (TPL, one of the largest private landowners) + crypto + royalty stream from Horizon Kinetics, an investment management company. The soul of the company, Murray Stahl, unfortunately just passed away early this year. There is uncertainty about where the company is going next, but you can also argue this could be a cheap entry point. Trades OTC with low liquidity. ##### Gadgets & Tools > Seeking Alpha $299/yr, others free [IBKR Pro](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/margin-rates.php) margin interest rate ~5% (Fed funds rate + ~1.5%) [StockCharts gallery](https://stockcharts.com/freecharts/candleglance.html?IVV,XLE,XLK,XLV,XLP,BRK/B,CET,FNV,LTPZ,TLT,MSD,NMZ|D|A12,26,9|-1) of mentioned tickers for weekly revisit [DRIP Returns Calculator](https://www.dividendchannel.com/drip-returns-calculator/) for historical total return [Almanac trader](https://jeffhirsch.tumblr.com/) for general market seasonality [AAII market sentiment](https://www.aaii.com/sentimentsurvey) for contrarian plays [Portfolio Visualizer](https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/backtest-portfolio?s=y&allocation4_1=30&initialAmount=10000&showYield=true&allocation1_1=40&allocation3_1=10&allocation2_1=20&symbol4=VBMFX&startYear=1985&symbol1=VTSMX&symbol2=VGTSX&symbol3=VGSIX&benchmark=-1&benchmarkSymbol=VFINX) for portfolio backtest. Start with the vanilla 60/40 stock/bond mix [Seeking Alpha](https://seekingalpha.com/) for portfolio tracking. Article quality varies; many writers have moved to Substack. [华尔街见闻](https://wallstreetcn.com/) for macro news and views. Great info if you're also interested in investing in China. [Morningstar](https://www.morningstar.com/cefs/xnys/msd/quote) for fund basics --- For sharing only, not investment advice. Do your own research. Data as of Sep 2026.