Investments

While volatility can make a fund more attractive on the way up, it can also make a fund less attractive on the way down.

The stock is more likely to go up than down, but how volatile are the markets really?

Here is a review of Marotta’s 2015 Vanguard Gone-Fishing Portfolio and a description of our changes for 2016.

Adding a little bit of Chile to your portfolio can boost returns and reduce volatility.

We do not recommend using stop loss orders. Now, it appears that the New York Stock Exchange agrees.

We’ve written about how to select securities but in this article we are going to apply those principles to the process of selecting a specific fund for a specific sector of the economy.

While many investors say they want a low-correlation portfolio, they don’t want to actually experience a low-correlation portfolio.

While Santa Claus usually brings something positive for the markets, it isn’t enough to worry about jumping in and out of your investments.

“Nothing has provided greater risk control over the long term than equities, which are historically without principal risk over 30-year periods…”

The Journal of Financial Planning featured a nice column by Harold Evensky entitled “These Innovative Research Papers Deserve Your Attention.”

October showed a sharp reversal of the movements of Resource Stocks.

Examining past Bear Markets can help provide some context when we experience the next one.

Here are seven sage investing lessons from the J. Paul Getty era.

The lessons of each bear market are visible with the wisdom of 20/20 hindsight.

For a calm investor, a crash will just mean that the stocks you would have bought anyway are temporarily on sale.

A crash is defined as an index dropping at least 50% from some previous high. Since 1950, there has been exactly 1 stock market crash in the S&P 500 Price Index.

When the market drops, resist the impulse to “do something.”

This year, almost every U.S. asset class is in the red except for growth stocks. When the market is throwing punches, you need a tactical defense.

Staying the course when an index investment is down is very uncomfortable in the short-term but usually the best course of action in the long run.

David John Marotta was interviewed on radio 1070 WINA’s Schilling Show discussing market volatility.

They are based on different indexes and have different expense ratios.

Every time the S&P 500 hits new highs everyone wonders if these new highs will stick.

How often did it pay to heed the star rating? Most of the time, with a few exceptions. Is there a better method to use?

You shouldn’t invest in what you don’t understand.

Contrarian indicators have paid off historically.

The connection between the price of oil and the price of oil companies is loose.

Despite the headlines, the global equity markets posted gains last quarter and for the year.

Planning for your financial future is largely a question of dealing with the constant tension between living for today and saving for some future event.

Is it a crash or just a correction? On average, the drop from peak to trough takes 85 days and the markets have recovered after another 107 days.

The majority of advisors make the mistake of having significant or moderate use of actively managed funds.

Most investors don’t understand what that means.

A high turnover rate is not something you want in a stock fund.

What should you do before a market correction? What about after? The answer is the same.

There is no such thing as “over diversification.”

Despite the appearance of stability, preferred stocks can become especially volatile when markets are reeling.

The greater the number of holdings the lower the turnover rate with one surprising exception.

Stocks less frequently traded have better returns.

The higher the correlation the greater the justification to put them in the same asset class.

“Every pension plan in the nation is paying too much [for private equity], and it’s being hidden.”

Should they be over weighted in your portfolio?

Correlations over the past year have been very low, while correlations over the past 10 years have been higher.

This year’s golden nugget goes to Buffett’s definition of risk.

The cost of commission-based advisors are so hidden that you may be paying more than you realize.

Each quarter brings a different set of returns for each asset class and subcategory.

Here’s how a good advisor should respond when you call about losses in your account.

“Lawsuit lenders do not advertise prices; they advertise convenience.”

There are three rules that we follow when looking for an investment strategy and the low volatility strategy fails two.

Investing in America began with the bankruptcy of the hottest stock in England.

“What do you think of the idea of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) implemented simply by investing in something like the Domini Social Equity Fund (DSEFX)?”

You cannot help a company by buying its stock.