My Trade Secret

Posted on July 17, 2007

How much risk can you afford? Nine out of ten investors, when asked how much risk they are willing to take respond with one version or another of “as little as possible”. That is the way I think, and I’m guessing you think that way too. Let’s face it, losing money is unpleasant. This is why risk avoidance is my number 1 priority in managing

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Exploding the Wall Street Myths

Posted on February 22, 2007

Exploding the Wall Street Myths Wall Street must have a propaganda machine to generate so many great investment myths. Like most myths, many begin with a kernel of truth, but end up inferring much that may not be true. Shrewd operators (like many financial institutions) often take these myths and use them for their own ends. The inducements are familiar—potential tax savings, greater returns, less effort

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Active Management Has the Potential to Improve Returns

Posted on February 8, 2007

Moving into 2007, market averages are testing “new-high” territory and have not endured a major correction since late 2002, over four years ago. A sure indicator that investors are beginning to worry that a major drop could be on line for 2007 is a proliferation of articles extolling investors to stay fully invested and not to try to “time” the market. After all, runs the most

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Are You Good at Poker?

Posted on November 29, 2006

Are You Good at Poker? How about investing? Just about everyone knows that three of a kind beats a pair, even those of us who don’t play poker. But as I point out in an example for my college class, it takes a higher level of skill to play and consistently win at poker than merely knowing the relative values of the hands. Where many people

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Not a Whole Lot of Inflation Going On

Posted on November 7, 2006

Not a Whole Lot of Inflation Going On I get a kick out of the media’s search for a reason for every movement in the stock market Knowing the numbers that are driving the markets like I do, sometimes I wonder what they have been smoking. Last Tuesday’s headline was typical: “Inflation Jitters Hit Stocks“ Most of you know me well enough to know I have

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