June 2013

Interest Rate Risk

“We have an entire generation of investors who have never experienced a rising rate environment.” – Gary Cohn, Goldman Sachs If you missed the first 5 parts in my series on bond investing be sure to read: Part 1 – Investing in Bonds Part 2 – Why Bother Investing in Bonds? Part 3 – Bond Investment…

Me and My Money – Globe and Mail

I am excited to be featured in Larry MacDonald’s Me and My Money column this weekend in the Globe and Mail. The article includes a profile of my investment approach, some of my best and worst investments over the years and my advice for investors. Here’s the article: Analyst Puts His ‘Probability Bet’ on Index…

Where To Invest in a TINA Market

“If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.” – Yogi  Berra Common sense reader mailbag: What am I supposed to invest in these days? Stocks are probably overvalued or at the very least due for a severe pullback with such huge gains over the last 5 years. And bond interest rates are extremely low so they…

Bond Investment Strategies

“The market’s not a very accommodating machine; it won’t provide high returns just because you need them.” – Peter Bernstein If you missed the first four parts of my series on bond investing be sure to check them out: Part 1 – Investing in Bonds Part 2 – Why Bother Investing in Bonds? Part 3 – Bond Investment Risks…

Forecasting or Coin Flipping?

“People have always had this craving to have someone tell them the future. Long ago, kings would hire people to read sheep guts. There’s always been a market for people who pretend to know the future. Listening to today’s forecasters is just as crazy as when he king hired the guy to look at the…

Bond Fund Performance

“Even the intelligent investor is likely to need considerable will power to keep from following the crowd.” – Benjamin Graham I’ve spent the last couple of weeks going over the different aspects of investing in the bond market. Earlier this week I covered investing in bond funds, but I didn’t spend too much time addressing…

Investing in Bond Funds

“It’s important for investors to remember the reasons they own bonds in the first place – namely for the potential for the preservation of capital, income and growth, relative steadiness and typically low to negative correlations with equities. These needs – which will only become more urgent as millions of baby boomers head to retirement…

Saving and Investing With Smaller Amounts of Money

“Bart, with $10,000, we’d be millionaires.” – Homer Simpson I was recently helping a family member set up a Roth IRA because she wanted to invest a small amount of money on a periodic basis. She eventually wants to increase that amount but we all need to start somewhere. This is a situation that many…

What Drives Stock Market Returns?

“The biggest factor impacting investors is no longer our knowledge base, but rather our behavioral elements.” – Barry Ritholtz There are many factors that we can look at when trying to figure out why the stock market went up or down on any given day. We can search the economic data for clues. We can…