Selling 70% of my National Atlantic stake freed up cash, and I deployed half of that today in a variety of rebalancing trades.  Today I bought some Jones Apparel, Valero Energy, Hartford Financial Services, and OfficeMax.  I sold some RGA to buy some MetLife, in order to get cheaper RGA.

Today’s actions brought cash in the portfolio from 14% to 11%.  It’s a good time to be adding to positions in a modest way.  If the market declines further, I will continue to slowly reduce cash and add to positions.  One nice thing about the rebalancing discipline is that I don’t time the market, but it often seems like the rebalancing discipline forces buying low and selling high, in ways that most investors would not want to emulate, because I am constantly leaning against the wind.

Starting on Monday, I’m going to be on the road until July 8th.  My ability to blog and follow the markets will possibly be impaired, because I will be busy the first week with the annual meeting (Synod) of my denomination, and the next week, with my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.  I will be in rural Western Pennsylvania and Northern Wisconsin, respectively.  The first is a lot of work; the second, a lot of fun.  In both cases, Internet access may be spotty.

I’ll leave a few standing orders out to take advantage of further declines in the market, especially if the NAHC deal fails on Monday.  Beyond that, I will start in on the next portfolio reshaping when I return.  For those that want an early preview, here are my current industry ranks.  It’s been a good year so far, but who can tell, the market can spin on a dime, and once again find a new way to make fools out of us all.

Full disclosure: long NAHC JNY VLO HIG OMX MET RGA