Index Funds Are Marxist and Mediocre
The Active Critiques: Indexing is Marxist, Mediocre, and Other Misguided Myths The mutual fund industry has ridiculed index investing for decades. Strong, self-interested economic incentives to defend active funds has given rise to clever propaganda and fear campaigns...
Portfolio Strategy Review Q2 2020
‘’History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Mark Twain An historic quarter in many respects. A Pandemic. Race Riots. A Trade War. Political Chaos. Yet the market so far looks like a “V” recovery. The best quarter since 1998. While the economy appears more...
Search for Winners
Search for Winners: Skill, Hype, or Hope (Hint: go to Amazon for your fiction) Mutual funds were first formed in 1924. Their original intent was to provide the investing public with broad access to the market. The idea was good at the time, despite a steep 8%...
Rocky Mountain High: A Long Way to the Peak
The stock market was looking mostly like a V-Shape until last Thursday. The Federal Reserve made a few sensible observations about the economy, and that prompted a not so sensible 6% decline in one day. You could argue that the 43% increase from March 23 lows didn’t...
Investment Performance Studies
Performance Studies & Commentaries These performance studies provide consistent evidence over the past century that index funds deliver better results than active funds. Wall Street has adapted its spin to defend its profit stream at investors' expense. As the...
Who’s Driving this Crazy Thing?
We all view the world and our money from a unique and personal vantage point. I’ve had several calls over the past few weeks with an understandable wide range of emotions over the state of the economy and the direction of markets. The economy and the market are...
Portfolio Strategy Review Q1 2020
When Will We Get Back to Normal The longest bull market in history had been on virtual cruise control since 2009. In March it gave way to the fastest bear market crash in history. Market volatility returned with a vengeance as investors seek to gauge the depth and...
How Long to the Other Side
How Long to the Other Side The market recouped about half its losses over the past two weeks, as investors weigh risks and grapple with when life will get back to normal. Some investment strategists say we’ve hit the bottom; some say this will last longer and be...
Calm, Care, & Caution
Calm, Care, & Caution How to stay calm during challenging times? The late Vanguard founder John Bogle used to say that in times of market turmoil, “Don’t just do something. Stand there!” His point was that panic selling after market declines guarantees loss....
Bear Markets
Bear Markets When you compare your 401k balance to three weeks ago it hurts. I know. The record long bull market ended on March 11, and we officially entered bear market territory. A bear market is defined as a 20% decline from peak stock prices. After 11 years of...
