To me, it seemed like the government finally took charge of the auto industry by putting the pedal to the metal and in no uncertain terms announced as to what action is acceptable and what is not. GM received a 60-day grace period from the government task force and Chrysler is looking to get engaged to Fiat in a hurry. …
ETF Liquidity
Forbes featured an article titled “Mutual Fund or ETF: Which Is Right For You?” While most of the information posted is well known, I want to hone in on one segment addressing the liquidity of ETFs. Here are some highlights: Liquidity is usually measured by the daily trade volume, which is generally expressed as the number of shares traded per …
Sunday Musings: Mark-To-Market Changes
Hat tip to reader Richard for pointing to “New Mark-To-Market Rules Coming.” Here are some highlights: The House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA), yesterday (Thursday) successfully browbeat the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) into coming up with modifications of the mark-to-market rules for valuing bank assets. Wall Street, which over the last 10 years has invested …
Higher Fees Ahead
Last Monday, I wrote about a lawsuit that may potentially cut mutual fund expenses for investors. Now Vanguard is in the news signaling that higher fees may be on the horizon. Here are some highlights: As if the market crash hasn’t been painful enough, more mutual-fund firms are set to raise their fees in response to falling assets, leaving shareholders …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 3/26/2009
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpUp, up and away was the mantra as all major indexes gained for the third week in a row. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs remains below its trend line (red) by -5.14% thereby confirming the current bear market trend. The international index now remains -11.39% below its own …
From TARP To GARP
Much has been written about the various bailout packages more recently referred to as TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program), which should now be renamed to GARP (Geithner Asset Relief Program). Both have one thing common in that enormous amounts of money are being spent without any certainty that positive results can be achieved. My confidence level in these programs, which …