Relax, a volatile stock market is your dearest friend
Call it foresight, or hindsight if you want to be
argumentative, but a long-term view of the Investment Process
eliminates the guesswork and points pretty clearly toward a
trading mentality that keys on the very natural volatility of
the hundreds of Investment Grade Equities out there for your
portfolio building attention.
[June 22 2006]
In value stock investing, quality is job one
In the late 90's, a well-known Value Fund Manager was asked
why he wasn't buying dot-coms, IPOs, etc. When he said that
they didn't qualify as Value Stocks, he was told to change his
definition... or else. Here are five filters you can use to
come up with a selection universe of higher quality companies.
[June 09 2006]
Statistical investment myopia: how the DJIA fails the average investor
To most investors, the DJIA provides all of the information
they think they need, and they worship it mindlessly, thinking
that this time tattered average has mystical predictive and
analytic powers far beyond the scope of any other market
number. It's Wall Street's rendition of "The Emperor's New
Clothes".
[May 07 2006]
A winning magic formula? The Little Book That Beats the Market proposes a magic
formula to get great returns. Is it too good to be true?
[May 05 2006]
Ten common investment errors: stocks, bonds, & management
Losing money on an investment may not be the result of a mistake, and
not all mistakes result in monetary losses. Compounding the problems
that investors have managing their investment portfolios is the
sideshowesque sensationalism that the media brings to the process.
Avoid these ten common errors to improve your performance.
[April 23 2006]
Ishares and ETFs: indexed investment illusions
Let's not dwell upon the three or more levels of speculation that are
the very foundation of all index funds... these things are designed
for manipulation! Isn't "Passive Management" as much of an
oxymoron as "Variable Annuity"? The Investment Gods are not
happy.
[April 12 2006]
Investment strategy: the investor's creed
The Stock Market is a dynamic place where investors can consistently
make reasonable returns on their capital if they comply with the
basic principles of the endeavor AND if they don't measure their
progress too frequently with irrelevant measuring devices. Five
simple concepts of Asset Allocation, Investment Strategy, and
Psychology are summed up quite nicely in the "The Investor's
Creed".
[March 05 2006]
The case for value stock investing... What if?
Predicting the performance of individual issues is a totally
different ball game that requires an even more powerful
crystal ball and a whole array of completely illegal
relationships. No one can predict individual issue price
movements legally, consistently, or in a timely manner.
[February 08 2006]
The common threads in technical analysis
Technical analysis strategies, while numerous and varied, are
mostly rooted in four basic principles.
[January 31 2006]
Investment Advisors 101: ask these questions
Why do people become Investment Advisors? Call me skeptical, but I
don’t think it’s the ethereal glow they feel after implementing your
new Financial Plan. Actually (once you appreciate that IAs are the
primary delivery system for Wall Street’s huge collection of one-
size-fits-all products), you’ll realize that it’s the money.
[January 13 2006]
A new wall street line dance
Every December, with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads,
investors begin to scrutinize their performance, formulate coulda’s and
shoulda’s, and determine what to try next year. It’s an annual,
masochistic, rite of passage.
[December 19 2005]
