A few days ago, I was discussing the bear market of 2000–2003 with a prospective client, when he pointed out that he actually held on to one fund profitably through the severe downturn. Really! Even though we avoided most of the bear by being in cash on the sidelines, any fund which has the ability to hold up against the …
No Load Fund Investing: How Important is a Fund Manager?
This question is like a two-edged sword, and I am bound to step on somebody’s toes. I think the most important issue in answering that question is what type of investment approach you are using. If you are one of those Buy-and-Hope followers and always in the market, then, by all means, you want a fund manager with a good …
ETF Investing: Should You Place Your Sell Stop With Your Broker Ahead Of Time?
If you are following my trend tracking approach to investing in no load funds and ETfs, you know that I’m a strong advocate of using sell stops. Obviously, you can’t place sell stops for mutual funds. You need to track them yourself and place the order after your point has been triggered. What about ETFs? Should you place your sell …
The “Las Vegas” Effect of ETFs
ETFs have been one of the great additions to the investment arena over the past few years. In my advisor practice, I use them along with no load mutual funds to construct our trend tracking portfolios. However, new ETFs are being introduced at an alarming rate. This year, almost 100 new ones have been brought to the market. It’s getting …
No Load Fund/ETF Investing: Conquering 5 IRA Myths
While IRAs are important financial instruments to save and invest on a tax-deferred basis in order to grow your retirement dollars, there are many intricacies that you may not be aware of. While most of them may not be crucial to you at this time, there are 5 myths that might help you as you travel the road to retirement. …
Good Economic News: Can They Be Bad For Your Portfolio?
After the economy has been given the death sentence on several occasions, out come Friday’s jobs numbers. While they are only one set of figures in the big puzzle, they were strong nevertheless. The Labor Department said that some 180,000 jobs were added in March (168,000 were expected) and the jobless rate fell from 4.5% to 4.4%. The bad news …