mutual funds

On every business news homepage there is what we call a “thermometer story.”  In a thermometer story, the writer will bring to the surface an abundant amount of issues, or news items, for investors to ponder.  By doing this, an investor is supposed to get a solid grasp on the mental state of the...

Investors sometimes talk about going defensive only to protect themselves from sharp downside movements. All too often they associate defensive stocks with hedging tools that provide little upside potential. What if you could pick a defensive investment risk management strategy that also provided...

There's a lot frustration and disappointment with mutual funds. For many retail investors, it feels like mutual funds have been a huge let down and haven't delivered returns. This has resulted in a great number of investors questioning the value of having their money professionally managed. Here,...

Markets stabilized during the Asian session, largely on speculation that some EU nations are looking to add requirements to the Greek bailout agreement. Specifically, these would require private bondholders in Greece to assume a larger percentage in losses than was suggested previously. Another...

Interesting piece in the WSJ, on the difficulty of balancing upside gains versus downside protection in the growing sector of the mutual fund marketplace: 'alternative funds'.  I think in an environment where correlations are so extreme, and headlines from politicians and central bankers mean more...

August was another month of very heavy mutual fund redemptions - some $32.2 billion withdrawn.  Surprisingly even bond funds are being hit - seems like high yield was especially hit, which is not a surprise if there is a major slowdown coming/happening. The drawdown in the past three months has...

Every excess eventually unwinds.  When an excess unwinds, the fall gets exacerbated by trend-followers blowing out of mutual and other pooled funds with lousy relative performance.   If you had a list of who owned a given publicly-traded asset, and when they bought it, you would know a lot about...

Later this month, an oversight council led by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is meeting to determine the criteria they will use in determining which mutual funds companies need increased oversight. According to a Bloomberg article, "The oversight council, created by the Dodd-Frank financial...

Bloomberg reports on the decade’s worst performing, large mutual funds. These are funds that still manage over one billion in assets, in spite of the large decline. Topping the list is Fidelity Growth Strategies (FDEGX), with a walloping 67% loss. Vanguard U.S. Growth (WWUSX) was down 50% to earn...

In sports we have the Sports Illustrated cover curse, in the world of equities we have Fortune Magazine. In an article written on May 27, 2008, Fortune deemed Ken Heebner (CGM's mastermind) America's hottest investor. Who's to blame them, in 2007 Heebner returned an almost unfathomable 79% return...