American mutual fund investors are spending a lot of money in a vain quest to beat the market, says famed finance professor Kenneth R. French of Dartmouth. French has made public preliminary results from his detailed study of the costs investors pay to own actively-managed funds whose goals are to beat the U.S. stock market. The estimated annual cost so […]
Kathleen Fifield asks “financial, economic, and property pros to tackle a bunch of real-world real estate scenarios.” Christopher M. Jones is quoted extensively on real estate questions ranging from flipping properties to renting versus buying. Read the Full Article
Common sense seems to tell those who are in or approaching retirement that they should cut back on their investment risk. After all, they will have to rely on it for income and feel they can’t afford to lose it. One rule of thumb says that you should subtract your age from 100 and the remainder is the percentage that […]
Remember when a special teacher in your life told you it was good to make mistakes as long as you could learn from them? It is probably one of the most important maxims for investors—and probably one of the most ignored. The evidence that investors don’t learn from mistakes is widespread. Every few years a new mania takes hold and […]
This may be one of the strangest investment stories of the year: Jim Cramer, the cable television madman who rants about buying stocks, now says most investors should use index funds. Wait a minute, this isn’t the same Jim Cramer who ran a hedge fund and whose Mad Money show on CNBC nightly touts individual stock plays, is it? You […]
Recession fears, rising unemployment, and stock markets plunging worldwide: What’s a poor investor to do? Not only are the headlines scary and unsettling but so are the monthly statements from your broker showing a drop in your portfolio value. It can be very hard to maintain your focus and long-term commitment to the stock market when investors all about you […]
According to local financial advisors, “the worst time to make investment decisions” is following a stock market sell-off. Christopher M. Jones advises “investors to stay calm.” He says that the “people making money five years from now are the people who are buying shares today.” Mr. Jones also provides advice on asset allocation. Read the Full Article
Happy New Year! The year 2007 was the most volatile year we have had since 2002. Our overall returns for the full year ranged from 4% to 7%, depending on the level of risk in your portfolio. So, it turned out better than you probably thought! As you can see from the chart below, the worst performing asset classes were […]