FundAdvice.com Articles


An unpleasant year bites the dust
User Rating: / 26
Written by Larry Katz, CFA, Director of Research   
December 30, 2008

Almost all investors will be glad that 2008 is coming to a close.

The bad news is well known.

•    The combination of too much leverage and excessive speculation in the financial and housing sectors has depressed global asset prices more than any time since the Great Depression.
•    Several major financial institutions couldn’t survive; for others, including the Big Three U.S. automobile manufacturers, the future is uncertain.
•    The country is in the midst of tough recession which began in December 2007.
•    Worries are widespread concerning retirement, jobs, housing and the long-term economic health of the nation.

And yet, even in these hard times, there are good reasons to be hopeful.

What investors should do now
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Written by Paul Merriman   
December 23, 2008
I’m writing this piece just before Christmas 2008, toward the end of a year that most investors wish had never happened. And while this topic is timely, I believe my points will be just as valid in the future as they are now.

Think you can play the market? Want to bet on it?
User Rating: / 28
Written by Tom Cock   
December 16, 2008

As winter and a new calendar year arrive, investors are struggling tomake sense of the market and what to do. Many investors are content, ifonly barely, to stick with tried-and-true wisdom and long-termstrategies. But other investors think (or hope) that they can figureout what the market will do and how to take advantage of it.

A ticking time bomb: Owning company stock
User Rating: / 13
Written by Tom Cock   
October 30, 2008

A crisis that started in Seattle is likely to spread across the country in the coming months as thousands of Washington Mutual employees come to grips with the money they lost because they held the bank’s stock in their 401(k) accounts. That stock became worthless when the bank failed late in September.

 

Is now the time to rebalance?
User Rating: / 33
Written by Eric Jonson   
October 27, 2008
A reader recently emailed to ask whether he should rebalance his IRA, which had strayed quite a bit from his intended allocation and risk level. Long before this year’s steep market decline, he had carefully determined that his IRA should be invested 60 percent in equity funds and 40 percent in fixed-income funds. Recently he calculated that the account balance was 45 percent equity and 55 percent fixed-income.
Our Lazy Portfolio (as written about at MarketWatch.com)
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Written by Jake   
October 22, 2008

When is being lazy good? Ask MarketWatch columnist Paul Farrell.  Here are his portfolio suggestions, and how our portfolio stacks up against other buy and hold or "lazy" portfolios.

Lazy Portfolio Update

Buying And Holding - Still A Good Idea?
User Rating: / 91
Written by Paul Merriman   
October 16, 2008

Updated November 7th, 2008

Let’s not mince words. The stock market lately has been pretty ugly. In more than 40 years helping people with their money, I don’t think I’ve been through a tougher period than this one. As I write this, the major U.S. stock indexes have dropped about 40 percent in the past year.

What We Believe In: An Open Letter To Our Readers And Friends
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Written by Paul Merriman and Jeff Merriman-Cohen   
October 13, 2008

Despite what you have been reading and seeing in the news, we are not approaching the end of the world. There’s no question that these are serious, confusing and distressing times. Sometimes it feels as if chaos has gained the upper hand.

Don't Dump Those Dogs!
User Rating: / 22
Written by Jim Whipps, former advisor   
September 22, 2008

It won’t surprise you to read that many of our clients have had a pretty tough time with the market this year. Over and over again, we hear from people who want to take action instead of sitting still. The three most common things people seem to want to do are:

•    Get out of the market immediately and go to cash.
•    Buy commodities and commodity funds.
•    Dump the “dogs” in their portfolios, the funds that have underperformed.

Part 3: Investing Smart
User Rating: / 7
Written by Burt Mayer   
September 09, 2008
Editors Note:
Burt Mayer, a senior at Lakeside High School in Seattle, WA interned at Merriman this summer with the intention of creating educational material for young investors.  This three part series featured on FundAdvice.com is perfect for those investors who are looking to get started but need to know the basics first
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