| |
| |
|
|
Stocks and Mutual Funds |
|
Shadow Bull
As one of my regular readers you know I have been a stock market bear for the past 2 years and have encouraged everyone to put their money into a money market account or a short-term no-load bond fund and for the more adventurous what is called a bear mutual fund that goes up when the market goes down. Just being in cash as outlined in my book would have saved 40% or more of your money. It looks like the bull has returned - at least for a while. The low that was hit on October 8 was a serious one. As the market has gone up there have been more and more who believe we are in a recovery mode so they are committing funds again. This is true not only for the average investor who has been seriously hurt with the invalid Buy and Hold philosophy, but also the pension and retirement plans of both large and small corporations. Many pension plans (hopefully not yours) have had losses of 30% to 50%. I hate to tell you this, but those fund managers, as expert as they pretend to be, have no more idea how to protect that fund than you do. Am I being pessimistic? Maybe, but then why did 90% of all stock mutual funds lose money so far this year? The only stocks and mutual funds showing a profit have been bonds, gold and bear funds. You can be sure your financial manager was not smart enough to own any of these. Well, anyway, back to this new bull market. Many pension plans and funds have been making a small recovery and the investor is again opening his mail from his 401K. It has been too painful to see those losses. Will this bull last? The current underlying fundamentals say 'NO', but the outlook by market analysts is that next year we will see the return of good corporate profits and better exports to foreign countries. So far it has been the American consumer who has held the market up with purchases of cars and houses. If this can continue we will see some corporate expansion and employment rise again. The market has been rising on anticipation of that scenario. Unless we can see corporations making decent profits so they can expand their business this shadow bull will disappear in a flash of light. Whoever you work for must make a good profit or you won't have a job. It isn't his fault or yours. He can't afford to keep you unless there are profits. Let's hope this shadow bull has more substance to it. (c) 2005 Al Thomas' best selling book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter to receive his market letter for 3 months at www.mutualfundmagic.com to discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.
MORE RESOURCES:
Stocks-Mutual-Funds - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
No Load Mutual Funds: Investment Hype vs. Investment Help With the internet such a huge part of our daily lives, many investors have access to a wide range of instant investment information.Whether you're into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures or options, there are tons of electronic investment newsletters offering to turn your small stake into a giant fortune. Stops Make Money During the day I watch CNBC-TV, the stock market channel. Fortunately, I keep the sound muted or I would be hollering at the dumb "experts" being interviewed. How to Find Value in No Load Mutual Fund Investing What are you thinking when it comes to your no load mutual fund selections? Are you saving pennies and sacrificing dollars?Are you spending your time looking at expense ratios, analyzing Morningstar ratings and searching for funds with low fees and no 12b1 charges? If you are like most people, you know these things in and out. You've spent hours evaluating them, and your chosen mutual funds cost little to purchase and maintain. Protect Your 401K Checked your 401K lately? Going back to about a year ago many of these retirement accounts have shrunk by 30%, some even more. What Happened?You have been putting money in for years and your employer may have been contributing to your plan also. The Exclusive Club of Large Caps Picture one of those clubs where only the real heavyweights need apply. In the library the old aristocrats, General Motors and JP Morgan, are dozing in their leather chairs. NASDAQ 800? In November of 2000 when the NASDAQ was trading at 3000 I wrote in this column that the NASDAQ Index would fall to 1500 and I got lots of heat for saying it. Microsoft had fallen from $129 to $60 per share. A Penny for Your Stocks According to Investopedia Inc. the penny stock market has seen phenomenal growth this past decade. Stock Trading Success The ABC's of Stock Trading SuccessStock trading success.. What is a Trading Plan - and Why You Need One? How do you make money without picking tops and bottoms?I am glad you asked.. Lifestyle Funds Provide Greater Security? With the stock market stubbornly refusing to settle down and smooth out, Wall Street has been scrambling to come up with "product" they can sell to gun shy investors.One such new concept is the Lifestyle fund; an extremely diversified package designed to be the single fund in an investor's portfolio. How to Make Big Money Safely in Stock Market (1) Stock Market is Tough Place to Make Any Money ConsistentlyNASDAQ or SP&500 averaged about -6% per year for 5 years between 1999 and 2003. Many individual investors who made killing in the internet bubble period got wiped out during those 5 years. Buy Low - Sell High Now where have I heard that before? I know. It was my broker. Advisory Service for You? It depends on your level of understanding of the market and the amount of money you have.If you a sophisticated investor with a substantial amount invested you are probably already receiving more than one. Learn to Calculate a Stock's Pivot Point Stocks breakout from properly formed bases everyday but many investors don't understand how to locate a pivot point or what patterns to study that may contain this very important buy signal. A pivot point can be described as the optimal buy point or the area at the end of a familiar base pattern where the stock breaks out into new high territory. The Stock Market - Part 1: Believe It Or Not, Its Always Been Your Best Friend And Always Will Be Regardless of the fact that the world's stock markets have shown absolutely no growth between the date of writing this article (Late April 2005) and the late 1990s, they should still be looked at with more than just a sideways glance.Speak gently to them, speak well of them to your friends, learn to trust them, cuddle up close and get to know them - and they will reward you in a way that the banks, mutual funds (Unit Trusts in the UK), pension funds and insurance companies never can or will. Cash How many people went to a cash position this week? There is no question that this market has scared the bajebers out of many investors, me included. Fortunately, I started going to cash some time ago, but I did give back a substantial amount of my profit. No Load Mutual Funds: Boost Your Portfolios Returns Investors who exclusively use broadly diversified, no load mutual funds for their stock investments often lose out on opportunities to increase the reward potential of their portfolios. This article looks at two methods investors may use to enhance the performance of their portfolio of diversifed, no load mutual funds. Trading as a Business What can I expect to make my first year of trading?We get questions like this one quite often. We find that most aspiring traders don't have a clue as to what to expect from the market. Diversification Wall Street's watchword has always been diversification, but what does it mean and why do they say it?The standard Wall Street definition is flexible because each broker or financial planner will vary the portfolio based on your age and income. They say that the younger you are the more risk you should take and the older you are the less risk. Hedge Fund Advertising Have you seen all those big full page ads for hedge funds in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Investors Business Daily? You haven't. Maybe they are being drowned out by the regular mutual funds who continually tell you how great they are.
|
||||||||||||||