Barron’s has a lead article titled “Invest in Japan.” What do you think? Time to jump in after the huge tragedy? From my own experience, tragedies are one of the best times to jump in. Take 9/11, quick slide, nice and quick recovery. Will Japan be the same? Nobody really knows, especially with the current level of uncertainty. If you do want to invest, as I’m thinking about it, I think investing in ETFs is the smart way to go. Exchange-Traded Funds Ticker Currency FXY CurrencyShares Japanese Yen Trust JYN Barclays iPath JPY/USD JYF WisdomTree Dreyfus Japanese Yen Stocks EWJ…
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While at the Barnes & Noble today, I got drawned in by a title in US World & Reports: The 100 Best Mutual Funds for the Long Run. Sure enough, I found a few funds that I think are top quality. Large Cap Value Comparing it to Fidelity Contrafund, which is considered one the top funds, I can see why Yacktman is on top: 3 year return of 8.9% is much better than -0.2% for the Fidelity fund. Foreign Large Cap Blend Very good returns. Better than Marsico Global, also a top rated fund. Very good returns.
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In my retirement accounts, I only hold Mutual Funds. Why? More security. More diversity. I’m also open to holding ETFs, which are almost like Mutual Funds, but I try to stay away from stocks. It’s good to rebalance every year or so. It’s been a while since I’ve done it. But because we had a decent dip recently, I think it might be a good time for me to do so. Plus, I have come across some excellent Mutual Funds in the Kiplinger’s magazine — I always try to buy their yearly issue focused on Mutual Funds. Here are some…
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Here are some funds that offer diversified exposure to the emerging markets in Europe, Asia, Africa/Middle East, and Latin America. These are taken from the latest BusinessWeek, Dec 28th edition. Sorted by 2009 Total Return 98% Europe, 1% Asia, 1% Latin America 70% Africa/Middle East, 30% Europe 100% Africa/Middle East 51% Latin America, 26% Africa/Middle East, 17% Europe, 6% Asia 50% Africa/Middle East, 25% Asia, 22% Europe, 3% Latin America
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Invest 10% in all of these 10 ETFs and you got yourself something close to what an Ivy League portfolio looks like. For more information, check theivy.portfolio.com Reference Kiplinger’s Magazine – 11/2009 Issue
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There was an interesting observation in the S&P Outlook recently. Since 1945, in the period from November-April, the S&P 500 returned 7.19%; in the May-October period, just 1.6%. What do do? Sell in May, and Buy back in November! I think this is true this year. I feel like we’re due for a correction. It might be a good time now, especially after the recent records. They recommend doing the following. For May-October overweigh- consumer staples- health care For November – April overweigh- financials- industrials- materials- consumer discretionary- information technology Now that’s an interesting observation… Here’s a chart that breaks…
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I like Vanguard as a company. I have been with them for a couple of years now. I like what they offer: both, in terms of fund selection, and in terms of the services they offer. Why would I want to invest in Vanguard funds? First, they give you a good selection. And second, you can put your investments on auto pilot: you can actually do dollar-cost averaging at no cost! So far, I have invested in 2 funds at Vanguard (NJ Tax-Free Fund; and S&P Index Fund). Every month, $50 gets automatically invested into each of them from my…
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I am just looking over the 2006 Semi-Annual iShares MSCI Series report I received today. I’m thinking, US economy will slow in the next year or two. Looking at the markets outside of US, I might want to invest in other assets. For instance, iShares Australia Index (EWA). 1 year return: 15.83%; 5 year return: 148%. Brazil Index (EWZ): 1 year: 70%; 5 years: 187% Canada Index (EWC): 1 year: 33%; 5 years: 103% Mexico Index (EWW): 1 year: 45%; 5 years: 194% Those are some impressive returns. I like Canada and Australia indexes: stable countries with very good results.…