One reader emailed me with the following question: Could you explain the difference between smart money and dumb money? I know the traders lure us unsuspecting people into the market like they have over the last 2 months or so then sell their holdings and then go short and wait till the bag holders start selling again and then cover …
Sunday Musings: That’s Not American
Ever since I left Germany in 1973 and immigrated to the United States, I was of the opinion that this country’s prosperity was based on survival of the fittest. I was reminded of that when I read “That’s Not the American Way: Chrysler’s Bailout and the Road to Ruin:” Chrysler’s plan to close about 25% of its dealers is the …
The VL Recovery
A reader pointed to the quarterly letter (PDF file) by Jeremy Grantham titled “The Last Hurrah and Seven Lean Years.” While the entire report is simply superb, I want to focus on two sections, namely “Seven Lean Years” and “The VL Recovery.” Let’s look at some highlights of the former first: Probably the single biggest drag on the economy over …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 5/21/2009
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpAimless meandering kept the major indexes close to the unchanged line. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs remains below its trend line (red) by -1.33% thereby confirming the current bear market trend. The international index has now broken above its long-term trend line by +4.96%. A Buy signal was …
Breathing On The Trend Line
Yesterday’s rally out of the starting blocks fizzled slowly, and all 3 major indexes lost moderately. Causing this retreat was the release of the minutes from a late April Fed meeting showing that the members see signs of stability, but threats remain and any recovery is unlikely to be quick. The economy is now expected to shrink between 1.3% and …
Not Getting It
In regards to my recent post “More On Risk Control,” one reader had this to say: With only a cursory review of your market timing/trend following investment approach, I find it to be quite conservative. If I remember correctly, some time early this year, your market timing index was waiting for a 20+% increase before getting back into the market. …