The WSJ featured an interesting article titled “Spice Up the Index-Fund Formula:” Smart investors have long known that steady, boring index funds offer excellent long-term performance. But a twist on the tried-and-true indexing formula may juice returns — especially if smaller stocks continue to lead the market back from the crash. The strategy, known as equal weighting, gives every stock …
A Nice Rebound
Things looked bleak Monday morning as the Dow surrendered some 130 points before storming back in the last hour to wipe out all losses. The only negative about the comeback was that it occurred on very low volume. It’s been a recurring theme lately that early bearish tendencies did not hold, and the bulls ended up in the driver’s seat. …
On Sell Stops and Whip-Saws
While I have discussed the use of sell stops and occasional whip-saws on several occasions, reader William had this to say: I am following your guidelines and have started to cautiously invest a small portion of some of my IRA in some ETFs. I am putting a 7% trailing loss on them. Let’s assume that my fund loses 7% of …
Sunday Musings: Brokers vs. Registered Investment Advisors
The WSJ featured an article titled “Taking Control,” which gives some advice as to how investors can better protect themselves against schemes and scandals. I just want to hone in on one part that deals with potential conflicts of interest: Financial advisers essentially fall under one of two of regulatory structures, one often considered stricter than the other. Under current …
Market Manipulation
Reader Richard had some interesting thoughts on what he considers market manipulation and asks whether it might affect trend tracking in general: I really value your work and daily comments; so what I am about to say is not meant as a negative reflection on you or your tracking signals. My concern is the ability to “trust” them, when it …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 6/4/2009
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpIncreased unemployment figures today did not derail the gains made earlier in the week. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs has now crossed its trend line (red) to the upside by +0.80%% keeping this week’s buy signal intact. The international index has now broken above its long-term trend line …