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Make the “Rigged” Markets Work for You

Date24 Apr 2014

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The recent appearance by Michael Lewis on 60 Minutes and the publication of his book Flash Boys has generated a furor over the perceived inequities of high-frequency trading. The idea that those engaged in high-frequency trading are permitted to “see” your trades, purchase stock ahead of your order and resell it to you at a higher price is clearly...

The Secret to Higher Expected Returns

Date24 Apr 2014

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Everyone wants higher returns. To many investors, success in investing means generating “alpha.” If you are an investor in mutual funds, that means trying to generate returns in excess of the benchmark index designated by the fund. There are still many investors who participate in the pursuit of alpha, but the numbers are diminishing. In...

Embrace Low-Frequency Trading

Date24 Apr 2014

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I love Michael Lewis’ writing, but I have some surprisingly good news to share about the high-frequency trading scandal revealed in his new book: High-frequency trading is not likely to hurt disciplined, long-term, low-frequency-trading investors. In fact, it might even help. Yes, it is almost impressive that Wall Street has managed to produce yet another scandal, even...

Investors Trying to Beat the System Invariably Are Disappointed

Date24 Apr 2014

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Let’s start with a parable. Next to a mountain trail stood a twisted, gnarly tree. Hikers loved the shade it provided, but one day, a guy with an ax came along and decided the tree could do more than provide shade. He thought the tree would make a great table. So he chopped it down...

Study Puts Another Nail in Active Management’s Coffin

Date14 Apr 2014

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An ongoing debate among investors is whether an active or passive strategy is most likely to give you the best results. Twice a year, Standard & Poor’s releases their active vs passive score card (officially called the S&P Indices Versus Active Fund report, or SPIVA for short.) The analysis compares actively managed funds against S&P index benchmarks,...

Concerned About Falling Dollar: What to Do?

Date14 Apr 2014

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My last post addressed the concerns investors had about the dollar potentially losing its status as a reserve currency. Today, we’ll take a look at what actions you might consider taking if that was a risk about which you are concerned. First, you could increase your allocation to international equities. For example, in the case of...

The Rally Nobody Noticed: Municipal Bonds

Date14 Apr 2014

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Historically, in terms of yields, because of their federal tax exemption, AAA-rated municipal bonds have traded at a discount to Treasuries. Over the long term, AAA-rated intermediate-term municipal bond yields have typically traded between 75-85 percent of the yields on similar maturity Treasuries. For example, for most of the period from 2001 through 2007 five-year...

A Closer Look at CAPE Ratio

Date14 Apr 2014

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When estimating returns, we know that current valuations provide valuable information. The earnings yield derived from the Shiller CAPE 10—the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio—is considered by many to be at least as good, if not better, than other metrics. It uses smoothed real earnings to eliminate the fluctuations in net income caused by variations in...

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