With the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO) index popping up 0.64% today (at the time of writing), it might be a good idea to take stock of your portfolio (no pun intended) and see where your cash might be best deployed so it's working as hard as it can for your long-term wealth.
After all, there's always someone somewhere preaching the next source of doom for investors – but even with all the trade-war talk, Brexit shenanigans and oil-supply concerns, the ASX is still up nearly 20% for the year.
So here's how I would set forth a $20,000 lump sum in ASX shares today
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL)
CSL set a new all-time high record this morning just after open, with CSL shares popping up to the fresh new high watermark of $248.05. The share price has since settled down somewhat and is going for $243.60 at the time of writing, but I think it might be a good time to load up on CSL shares, as the $250 mark now seems like the next logical milestone for this evergreen grower.
Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM)
With a potential trade war resolution over the weekend, the price of gold (the traditional 'safe-haven' asset) has been hit hard this week, falling back below the US$1,490 level. This in turn has pushed ASX gold miners like Newcrest down today, with NCM shares trading at their lowest levels in over a month – NCM shares are going for $33.64 at the time of writing.
Still, all it could take is a change of tone from the US President to send gold prices higher again (not exactly unprecedented), so I think Newcrest might be a good value at these levels – especially as a hedge against other stocks falling.
Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS)
I think rising markets producing lots of new record highs are a good time to just beef up the passive section of your portfolio if no other stocks are looking like good value opportunities. After all, cash is not much good for anything else these days, so if you've got a surplus, maybe a market-wide ETF like VAS is a good place to go. VAS gives out a current dividend yield of 4.03% as well, so that's always a nice added bonus.
Foolish takeaway
In these rising markets, it can be hard to spot a screaming winner, but I think at current levels, both Newcrest and CSL are looking promising this week. Even if markets are high, you're going to get a better bang for your buck than a bank account gives you right now. I think it's worth going in with guns blazing!
