The bulls tried to keep upward momentum going yesterday, but other than a quick peek above the unchanged line, the major indexes meandered in negative territory and closed to the downside. Profit taking contributed to the sagging of financial stocks in the last hour. Activity was confined within a small trading range, which is not surprising after Friday’s strong breakout …
A Lesson From Cuba
Bill Fleckenstein presented these interesting economic thoughts a few days ago in “Cuba understands what US doesn’t:” As even the Cuban government lays off workers, we can’t seem to face the looming problems posed by our own bloated public payrolls. It might seem obvious, but one of the fundamental rules of investing is “don’t lose money.” That rule is also …
Sunday Musings: The 10 Best Days Vs. The 10 Worst Days
Hat tip goes to reader David for providing the above chart, which was created by Pension Partners. There are a few interesting observations about this data set: • The 10 best days account for 50% of the buy and hold performance (roughly 0.2% of the days from 1993 to August 2010).• Classic “Buy & Hold” nets $324,330.15• Missing the 10 …
A Forgotten Fund Gets Hot
Occasionally, I have posted about a no load mutual fund that should belong in every investor’s portfolio, even if your general preferences are the use of ETFs. The WSJ reports in “Permanent Portfolio (PRPFX): How a Forgotten Fund got Hot in a Hurry:” I’ve been following the ‘permanent portfolio’ theory on and off with one eye for a few years, …
No Load Fund/ETF Tracker updated through 9/23/2010
My latest No Load Fund/ETF Tracker has been posted at:http://www.successful-investment.com/newsletter-archive.phpIt was a roller coaster ride with Friday’s strong up day more than making up for the mid-week losses. Our Trend Tracking Index (TTI) for domestic funds/ETFs held above its trend line (red) by +5.27% (last week +3.74%) and remains in bullish mode. The international index broke back above its long-term …
Taking A Breather
If you consider gold an asset to be held during times of economic uncertainty, you would be correct as the metal continued its ascent toward the $1,300 level during yesterday’s session. Stocks drifted and gold’s rise was a reaction to the Fed’s announcement Tuesday that they were ready to do whatever it took to support the economy. As I posted …