Credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Have you ever wondered whether the stock market does better when the President of the United States is a Republican or Democrat? Read more…
Individual Bonds vs Bond Funds
Many investors lack a strong understanding of bond portfolio basics. As a result, there are some misconceptions about the use of individual bonds versus bond funds. Many individual bondholders believe the implications of interest rate fluctuations don’t impact them because they will receive their Read more…
Hedge Funds: What Are They Good For?
Absolutely nothing. That is the answer to the question in the subject line. It is also the value hedge fund investors receive for shelling out exorbitant fees for lackluster performance. The chart below looks at historical performance of hedge funds (yellow bars) relative to diversified stocks Read more…
Stock Selloff Stats
Market sentiment remains negative with the S&P 500 down 12.3% to date and 13.92% from the high point set in May 2015. Read more…
The Collective Knowledge of Markets
Meet Penelope the cow. NPR’s Planet Money asked the internet how much Penelope weighed and got 17,205 responses. The average of all the responses was 1,287 pounds and the actual weight was 1,355 pounds. The average was off by only five percent. This experiment, which was originally conducted in Read more…
Stock Market Correction
I wrote an article at the beginning of the summer titled Volatility is Not the Enemy. I remember thinking it would be the perfect article for whenever the market had a correction. Since it had been nearly four years since the last correction, I figured it should be published and referred back to Read more…
Bond Portfolio Basics
Individual investors never seem very interested in their bond portfolio. Maybe it’s because bonds lack the sense of identity that often comes with owning a stock. Think about it: nobody brags out about lending money to Apple, they brag about owning Apple. In addition, you can theoretically own a Read more…
The Impact of Rising Rates on Your Bond Portfolio
Rising interest rates have been a concern among bond investors for many years. The Federal Reserve is signaling that they remain on track to raise interest rates in 2015, which means that the wait may be finally over. While the Fed may raise short-term interest rates in 2015, longer-term rates are Read more…
Volatility as the New Normal
If, as many investment experts are saying today, volatility is the new normal in equity markets, it makes even more sense than ever to structure a portfolio that can help isolate you to some extent from these major market swings. Read more…
