I think reckless bottom fishing should be declared an extreme sport. Many investors, who jumped in too early, based on who knows what reasons, are seeing their portfolio values heading further south—again. MarketWatch reports “Mutual fund flows back in the black.” Take a look at some highlights: The mutual fund industry has had little to cheer about, but January’s flow …
Hedged Mutual Funds
It’s common knowledge that a lot of hedge funds got clobbered last year along with the overall market. Kiplinger took a look at some mutual funds that employed hedging techniques to see how they fared in last year’s environment. Here are some snippets from “Hedges That Didn’t Get Hosed:” None of the funds, which promise to limit losses during severe …
A New (Temporary) Bottom
Once a trend is established, either up or down, it usually follows the basic law of physics that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. That was certainly the case over the past week as downward momentum accelerated and the November 08 lows were taken out with yesterday’s drubbing. The widely watched 752 level on the S&P; 500 …
A Fear Hedge
I have received a number of emails from readers wondering why gold is rallying as inflation has dropped into negative territory. In the past, gold has been mostly associated with being an inflation hedge, but it can be a hedge during times of great turmoil as well, as this article from 24/7 Wall Street examines (hat tip to reader Richard …
Sunday Musings: The Value Of Feedback
Last Sunday, I talked about the impossibility of being able to please all the people all of the time with my blogging efforts. I received a lot of commentary and emails, some of which you can review here. Feedback is a valuable component of any business or any writer whether he gets paid for his efforts or makes a voluntary …
The Value Of Selling
In regards to my recent post “7 Years Of Wealth Wiped Out,” reader VR had this comment: It’s almost funny when I try to talk people out of buy-and-hold strategy and point them to your blog for market-timing. Everyone is afraid of missing out on a big rally. They don’t really mind losing more than 50% of their investment to …