July 24, 2017
So many investors have been bailing out of actively managed mutual funds and piling into index and quasi-index funds via exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that, as Bloomberg Business Week points out, we’ve reached the point where there are now “more cartons than eggs.” That is, “the number of market indexes” [most created for ETFs to track] “now exceeds the number of U.S. stocks.” This most recent stampede has long precedent: When...
June 7, 2017
The “modern REIT era” dates back to legislation passed in 1960. In the last half century, the sector has evolved from being a small unloved (deservedly at times), misunderstood and volatile investment alternative into an almost-mainstream category. In recognizing their growing importance, S&P Dow Jones Indices and MSCI, the two most widely used index providers, created a new real estate investment trusts category in September...
May 24, 2017
Humans are hard-wired to seek good and avoid bad—it’s one of our critical survival
mechanisms. It serves well in day-to- day activities, however, it can be a hazardous investment strategy.
Most folks simply characterize “bad” stocks, mutual funds or markets as those that have been going down for a while. Conversely, when prices have been rising, stocks and funds are “good.” If they’ve been going up for a long time, they can even...
July 22, 2011
The sad truth is that roughly two-thirds of all actively managed mutual funds fail to beat their benchmarks. Most investors are better off sticking with funds that simply try to mimic an index; their typically low costs give them a big edge over most actively managed funds. If you want to invest in actively run funds, you need to devote time to picking good ones. Start by following my six rules for successful fund picking:
1. F...
February 17, 2010
In the 1930s, Benjamin Graham, the father of security analysis, likened investing in stocks to doing business with a manic-depressive. Little has changed over the decades.
Indeed, stocks have been wackier than usual lately. In October 2007, the stock market began its worst fall since the Great Depression. There was widespread panic when Lehman Brothers failed in September 2008. By the time the market bottomed, Standard & Poor’s...
November 24, 2009
China and other emerging nations need more raw materials—ranging from oil to copper to lumber to grains. As these countries’ economies continue to grow at a rapid clip, they’re stepping up their purchases of commodities. Commodity prices, particularly for oil and gold, soared until fairly recently—and many individual investors are tempted to join the party.
My advice: Stay away. Dozens of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) now allow...