I represent hundreds of families as the president of my Registered Investment Adviser, taught financial concepts to classrooms around the world, spent years as the CFP on a national talk radio show and receive countless e-mails from wisdom seekers. Yet I would not be able to tally the number of investors who I have encountered in my lifetime. However, there [...] Continue Reading...
U.S. stocks rallied 4% on the last day of November. Granted, China formerly announced that bank reserves would be lowered, a form of easing that hasn’t taken place in China in 3 years. And the ADP private payroll report on U.S. employment indicated a healthy pick-up in hiring. Nevertheless, the primary driver for one of the best sessions in [...] Continue Reading...
I didn’t pursue a Master of Business Administration when I was younger; rather, I felt there would be more value in a Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (a.k.a. “the psychology of business”). Why did I/O beckon more than the typical MBA track for financial professionals? In essence, the crash in October of 1987 had a profound affect [...] Continue Reading...
In spite of stock market woes in November, the spot price of crude has managed to push back towards the $100 per barrel mark. Not surprisingly, ETFs with exceptionally high correlations to oil such as Market Vectors Russia (RSX), have significantly outperformed the iShares MSCI All-World Fund (ACWI). That said, Canada, the second largest non-OPEC producer, may also be worth a look. Don [...] Continue Reading...
European Debt Crisis Update, Tracking Euro ETF (FXE), Buyback ETF (PKW), Low Volatility ETFs, Yield ETFs Click here to listen to the show: 11-27-2011 Continue Reading...
In my 10/27/11 commentary, “3 Reasons Stock ETF Investors Should Continue To Tread Lightly,” I pointed to the fact that the month-long stock surge had not come from the spectacular earnings season; in fact, the average return for individual securities on the session following a Q3 earnings report was -0.21%, suggesting that the entire October run-up emanated from enthusiasm for pan-European cooperation. It follows that articles [...] Continue Reading...
One of the most volatile segments of the market is the materials segment. Its under-performance throughout 2011 is directly tied to slowing emerging market demand and increasing fears of a global meltdown in Europe. Of course, what if oversold stocks should get a break out of the European quagmire? Or what if China makes a statement [...] Continue Reading...
Commodity ETFs, Platinum ETFs, China ETFs, Asian ETFs, Low Risk ETFs, Low Risk ETF Portfolio Click here to listen to the show: 11-20-2011 Continue Reading...
Over the last year, the 15 companies in the Dow Industrials (DJIA) that repurchased the most shares returned roughly 9%. In contrast, the 15 companies in the DJIA that repurchased the least number of shares registered a less robust 3%. Granted, this Morningstar study is not particularly extensive. Yet market pickers often covet corporations that engage in share buybacks, and the investment community frequently [...] Continue Reading...
The SPDR S&P China Fund (GXC) fell -37% from an April high to an October low. That was nearly twice the top-to-bottom devastation for the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY). What’s more, the dramatic sell-off across all China ETFs met the commonplace definition of a bear market — a 20% drop from the peak. Often, commentators [...] Continue Reading...
