Today’s quiz has to do with asset category returns. The first decision an investor must make is choosing what to invest in. Stocks? Bonds? Real estate? Gold? Futures contracts? Persian rugs? Pork bellies? Several large studies have found that the investor’s answer to the question of which asset category, or categories to invest in is of major importance, likely the most… Read more →
Category: Investing
A bit about the second quarter, 2014.
Preliminary second quarter asset management reports for clients of Financial Planning Associates, Inc. have been posted to your secure web folders. Since we have recently changed our reporting formats it is possible that some of you may have questions, or comments. If so, please give us a call or send an email. As is always the case, we will replace… Read more →
“What goes up must come down. Spinning wheel got to go round…”
Perhaps you recognize this opening line to a popular song from 1969. David Clayton-Thomas was probably not thinking about portfolio theory when he wrote that lyric, but it does apply. Inefficient diversification can result in unnecessary risk. To cite but one fairly recent example, many investors can confirm that what went up in the 1990s did, indeed, come down in the early… Read more →
Some of our clients have asked if we should invest in gold. (Posted August, 2013)
Don’t you wish you would have purchased gold early in 2009? Remember? The global credit crisis? The “world is going to hell in a handbasket” scenario? Many speculators rushed to buy gold, and the price shot up, and up some more. The airwaves were jammed with talking heads reporting record profits from investing in gold, and there were advertisements a… Read more →
And what about “The Taper”?
Things were going along pretty well this year, until Fed chairman Bernanke indicated that he might “taper” the bond buying stimulus, causing market makers and hedge fund managers to decide to take profits. As a result, most investment assets lost value. Read more →