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March 11, 2008 |
By Paul Merriman
Sometimes the most powerful wisdom comes in compact packages. A great
quotation can sum up a lifetime of experience in a few words, giving us
all valuable lessons. Sometimes a quote itself can tell the whole
story. But often the meaning must be teased out of it. Here are some of
my favorite examples.
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February 27, 2008 |
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Everybody’s a genius in a bull market, the old saying goes, but a bear market creates fear, uncertainty and costly mistakes.
The conventional definition of a bear market is a decline in prices of 20 percent or more, lasting at least two months. Whether Wall Street is in a bear market right now depends on what is being measured. But there’s no question this market has unsettled many investors.
Here are 10 ways to avoid permanent losses and crash-proof your portfolio ...
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February 08, 2008 |
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Many people are feeling beaten up by the stock market over the past few
months, and I’m often asked for market commentary. What do I think is
happening? When will things get better? Should I get out now before
things get worse? What’s the right thing to do?
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Written by Adam Ott
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January 31, 2008 |
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By Dennis Tilley
Director of Alternative Investments
Do commodities have a rightful place in a broadly
diversified portfolio? The obvious answer seems to be yes, they do. However,
after a lot of careful study and thought we have concluded that the right
answer is still no, they don’t.
Commodity prices across the board are at all time
highs. Experts say the world is running
out of natural resources and that production will not keep up with the rising
demand from fast growing emerging economies.
From a portfolio point of view, commodities also have
attractive characteristics. While
commodity prices are quite volatile, they tend to zig and zag independently of
stock and bond prices. Due to the
uncorrelated price movements, adding a small amount of commodity exposure can
actually lower overall portfolio risk
for a given expected return.
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Written by Paul Merriman
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December 12, 2007 |
CNBC’s Jim Cramer may be a popular television entertainer, but whether he’s helping investors is another matter. This question was brought to my attention recently in a sharp exchange on the Web site Dow Jones MarketWatch between Cramer and Paul B. Farrell, a MarketWatch columnist who has earned my respect.
Paul is a veteran of business and Wall Street. He’s also the author of nine books, including The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing. Recently, he watched Cramer’s Mad Money on CNBC and was not amused. In addition to costing viewers their valuable time, he wrote, Cramer’s wild TV antics also are likely to cost them money. Paul made a powerful case that intelligently selected “lazy portfolios” outperform the active stock trading advocated by Cramer.
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Written by Paul Merriman
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December 05, 2007 |
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At our workshops, we do our best to present some of the finest investing material you’ll find anywhere. But sometimes, one-on-one help is really what is needed.
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Written by Paul Merriman
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November 08, 2007 |
Proper asset diversification makes more difference than anything else investors can do. But it's a daunting task when you're just starting out with little money. In this article Paul Merriman describes a step-by-step plan for doing it right. Editor's note: This article, first published in 2002, was
updated in January 2008.
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Written by Paul Merriman
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November 07, 2007 |
Good news! You have just had an unexpected windfall of $300,000, exactly the amount you still owe on your mortgage. Do you know what you would do? Would you rush to pay off your mortgage with your new-found cash, or would you keep your mortgage and invest the cash?
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Written by Adam Ott
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October 29, 2007 |
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In an article in the New York Times Business Section on October 23, Julie Connelly described the attraction of index funds. Paul Merriman was the first person she quoted.
Click here to read the story.
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October 29, 2007 |
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For many American investors – perhaps the majority – the 401(k) plan (and its near-clones for non-profit organizations) has become the mainstay of retirement savings. It’s not hard to see why. These plans combine tax advantages with automatic savings and in many cases the incentive of matching funds from employers. Editor's note: This article, first published in 2002, was updated in October 2007.
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