Bad times usually bring out gallows humor, and the recent bear market was no exception. Various versions of funny Wall Street definitions have appeared on the Internet and in print publications. Here are a few: Market correction: The day after you buy stocks. Broker: What your broker has made you. Standard & Poor: Your life in a nutshell. Value investing: The art of buying […]
Best and worst months
Conventional wisdom pegs October as the worst month of the year for the stock market. It was in that month that the crashes of 1929 and 1987 occurred. But that wisdom is wrong: September has proved to be the worst month of the year, with the worst record over the past 50 years. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has […]
Don’t blow a big opportunity offered by the bear
Your portfolio has endured one of the worst bear markets of the last 100 years. As bad as things seem, investors may have been handed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They shouldn’t blow it by becoming fixated on what’s happened to them. Unfortunately, investors frequently focus on what they paid for an investment, and fluctuations up or down from that initial price […]
Client Letter – Q4 2002
I hope that you enjoyed the holiday season! In order to start this year on a positive note, I thought that it might help if we look at 2002 with the proper perspective. The chart below shows annualized investment returns for the major asset classes over three periods—one year, five years, and ten years (all of which end December 31, […]
Active managers blow their chance to outperform
The past several years have given active investment managers plenty of opportunities to show that they can add value to the investment process. Recent studies have shown that individual stocks have become much more volatile than in the past, giving active managers a chance to demonstrate their stock-picking skills by picking winners and avoiding losers. In addition, large up and […]
Want to retire? Save until it hurts
The stock market boom of the 1990s did a great disservice to the average retirement investor: it made her feel that big stock returns were the key to retiring in style. From 1990 through 1999, big American stocks grew by an average of 18.2% per year, based on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index. A $50,000 investment in the […]
How to conquer your own investment biases
Believe it or not, all investors are not entirely rational. Well, that doesn’t seem so hard to believe. But understanding common patterns of investor irrationality may help you become a better investor. The Nobel Prize committee recently added some weight to this by awarding the economics prize to two college professors in the United States who have been pioneers in […]
Exxon Mobil promotes investment indexing
Exxon Mobil has made a bold move in its new 401k savings plan for employees. The company has announced that it will jettison all actively managed mutual fund choices next year in favor of a roster of indexed mutual funds. The company’s public announcement of the change, along with communications to employees, echoes the findings of academic studies that show […]
Client Letter – Q3 2002
The 2000-2002 bear market, which has lasted over two years, has scared many investors. The market’s steep declines are scary, but a long-term view can ease some of your anxiety. There is no question that the market can be very risky in the short run. That is why you should never invest money in the stock market that has a […]
Chasing hot mutual funds is a losing proposition
The returns earned by mutual funds may not be the same as those earned by the investors who buy them. A recent study by a university professor and two public foundation researchers indicates that mutual fund investors may have earned much less than the returns reported by the funds. The study, recently reported in Money magazine, showed that money usually […]
