The Real Lesson From October’s Market Volatility
October was a wild ride for investors. At its low, the Dow Jones Industrial average plunged 5.2 percent from its September high. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 6.2 percent and the Nasdaq was down 7.4 percent. Global headlines...
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Investments
The securities industry has a vested interest in making investments complicated and opaque. Confusion, obfuscation, fear and anxiety are often the basic tools of its trade. While purportedly “market-beating” brokers and advisors tend to profit handsomely in all market conditions,...
5 Investing Rules In Case of a Market Correction
I have long felt the greatest threat to the retirement dreams of most investors can be found in the combination of misinformation promulgated by the securities industry and much of the financial media. Together, they deliver a stream of marketing...
Debunking 8 Common Investing Myths
You don’t need to pick stocks or eschew all risk to be a good investor. Convenient truths vs. evidence-based investing It’s easy for investors to absorb myths on best investing practices from the media and financial pundits. That’s why it’s...
3 Contrarian Views About Investing
I am sometimes described as “contrary.” Actually, the more commonly used terms are “opinionated,” “arbitrary” and “judgmental.” There may be varying degrees of truth to all of them. Today, however, rather than temper or minimize my “contrarian” views, I’ve decided...
The Shocking Admission of This Shuttered Hedge Fund Manager
It’s no longer surprising when hedge funds close their doors. According to a website that tracks hedge fund “implosions,” since late 2006, aptly-named The Hedge Fund Implode-O-Meter, at least 117 major funds at 71 fund families have shuttered. The sponsoring...
This Is Your Single Biggest Investment Mistake
Research shows these funds are not producing enough returns to cover trading and operating expenses. I’m not going to make you wait for the punch line. Your single biggest investment mistake is owning any actively managed funds. That’s where the...
Avoid Being Conned By Mutual Fund Advertising
All performance-based advertising should be banned. Your telephone rings. The call is from an executive recruiter. She has some really good news. You are being offered a position as the fund manager for a large-cap mutual fund. Large-cap stocks are...
5 Investing Myths May Stop You From Retiring On Time
Investors are battered daily with an avalanche of financial information. Much of it is wrong. The securities industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually sponsoring all forms of financial media, a great portion of which is little more than...
Smart Millennials Can Be Dumb Investors
Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are an interesting group of people. The term typically refers to those born between the early 1980s and 2000. The general perception of this generation is mixed. Some articles portray them as selfish, lazy...
