The best time to invest is when others won’t. Now appears to be one of those times. Stocks, by at least one historical yardstick, appear cheap. Specifically, the stocks that comprise the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index are trading at 13.7 times profits; that is a terrific number when compared to the historical average of [...]
How does $1.2 billion get misplaced at a brokerage firm? And more importantly, can it happen to your brokerage account? The $1.2 billion figure is the amount that somehow went missing from MF Global, the once little-known firm helmed by former senator, former NJ governor, former Goldman Sachs chief, Jon Corzine. He says he is [...]
In this article in Financial Advisor, we learned that a few major mutual fund companies are asking the SEC to back off on its proposal to restrict the use of derivatives in traditional mutual funds. “Any set of mechanical rules cannot take account of the diversity of derivatives and the multiplicity of ways they may [...]
I thought I couldn’t be shocked anymore with stories about mis-deeds in the financial world. But this article really set me back on my heels. Matthew Hutcheson is, or perhaps I should say – was – a man I respected greatly. He has been a highly visible leader in the fight to protect employees from [...]
“Hell, everyone made money last year,” several prospective clients said to me in 2010. In fact, I always hear that after a good year. The implication those folks were making was that our mutual fund skills really didn’t mean very much, because, I guess, we just floated along a rushing, rising river. Which leads me [...]
A type of investment known as stable-value funds are available only in tax-deferred plans. As implied by the name, these funds are meant for conservative investors. They can often be a good choice, and many 401(k) plans have them on the menu. While money market funds are currently offering almost nothing in terms of interest [...]
Much as I hate to embrace clichés, when it comes to stock market volatility it does appear that we better get used to “a new normal.” As a recent New York Times article showed, it’s not your imagination—the stock market is more jumpy than ever. Moves of three or four percent, up or down, used [...]
The stock market has tumbled. Financial headlines and talking heads on TV warn of dire developments ahead. And sure enough, a few of our clients called, thinking about selling all their mutual funds and moving to cash. Is this smart? Well, it may be if a) it lets you sleep at night, or b) you [...]
Do you know the names Bruce Berkowitz, Kenneth Heebner or Bill Miller? Unless you’re a mutual fund geek, you don’t. But to people like me who live in that world, those gentlemen are stars in the fund manager universe. Each has been singled out, over the years, for posting some pretty spectacular performance numbers. Which [...]
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story on tennis great Roger Federer. It included insight into his phenomenal success on the tennis court, and interestingly, much of what Roger said in the sidebar story echoes the investment philosophy I try to instill in our clients. It starts off by saying: He hardly ever gets [...]
