December 11, 2011
The Good Old Days? “The hardest arithmetic for human beings to master,” wrote the great American working man’s philosopher Eric Hoffer, “is that which enables us to count our blessings.” It’s a piece of wisdom worth recalling after another year that has tested the nerve of many investors and prompted questions about what current generations have done to deserve to live in such a tempestuous stage of history.
October 11, 2011
Living with Volatility. The current renewed volatility in financial markets is reviving unwelcome feelings among many investors-feelings of anxiety, fear, and a sense of powerlessness. These are completely natural responses. Acting on those emotions, though, can end up doing us more harm than good
August 15, 2011
The New York Times, The Mutual Fund Merry-Go-Round: Author slams mutual fund fees, performance, and ethics; advocates diversifying with passive index funds. This has long been our view.
August 8, 2011
Sovereign Debt and the Equity Investor. The Debt Downgrade and Your Stocks. Interesting article comparing Indonesia to the US. “A triple-A sovereign debt rating is no guarantee of superior equity market returns, and a “junk” rating is no assurance of failure. A diversified strategy will have exposure to both.”
July 14, 2011
CBS Money Watch, What Are the Odds of an Active Portfolio Outperforming? “…active management is the triumph of hype, hope and marketing over wisdom and experience. Choosing passively managed funds to implement your investment plan is the winning strategy — the one most likely to allow you to achieve your goals.”
July 6, 2011
The Wall Street Journal, The 25 Documents You Need Before You Die. Design Your Death Dossier Soon — or You Could be Setting Up Your Heirs for Frustration and Financial Pain
May 12, 2011
The New York Times: “Why It’s So Difficult for Entrepreneurs to Head for the Exit”. Interesting interview on one business owner’s journey to sell his company. See also Carol Roth’s article for the Highland Columns entitled “6 Things to Do Today to Prepare Your Business for Sale”.
May 4, 2011
February 10, 2011
What’s “New” about a New Normal? The concept of a new normal is anything but new. In fact, throughout modern history, periods of economic upheaval and market volatility have led people to assume that life had somehow changed and that new economic rules or an expanding government would limit growth. What they could not see was how markets naturally adapt to major social and economic shifts, leading to new wealth creation.
This article looks at other periods when investors had strong reasons to give up on stocks, and considers the parallels to today.
January 18, 2011
BizTimes.com, “Sailing Close to Inflation” by Richard D. Marcus, Ph.D. views inflation and unemployment as two monsters called Scylla and Charybdis, which appear in Homer’s The Odyssey. Odysseus sailed between these two monsters losing part of his crew, but successfully made it through by staying far away from one monster (the whirlpool Charybdis) and risking danger from the other (Scylla). This ancient story is used to say that we are also intentionally hanging dangerously close to the monster of inflation, in part because the danger of unemployment is even worse.
January 4, 2011
Be it resolved. While people commonly make New Year’s resolutions to eat less, exercise more, and make other lifestyle changes for improved health, some investors also might consider forming new financial habits to improve their long-term wealth. Brad Steiman proposes ten investment resolutions for 2011.
December 20, 2010
VIDEO: Should Investors Fear the New Normal? Ken French, Professor of Finance at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, explains why lower economic growth may not hinder future returns.
December 1, 2010
The New York Times: How To Improve Your Financial Willpower, By Ramit Sethi
November 27, 2010
The New York Times: A Dying Banker’s Last Instructions, By Ron Lieber. Gordon Murray, a Wall Street veteran, has brain cancer and a desire to show people a better way to invest.
