by Peggy Black

Owning mutual funds can be expensive when you consider the 1.5% average charge for advisory fees that go to the broker or financial planner that helps you select the funds. Exchange traded funds (ETF) can be your answer to greater flexibility at a lower cost.

When you purchase a mutual fund you are left in the dark as to what you are getting. Fund managers only are required to disclose their holdings twice a year and that comes with a 30-60 day time delay.

The first ETF’s was the S&P Depository Receipt known as SPDR (exchange symbol SPY). It was basically a stock that owned all 500 companies that make up the S&P 500 Index. So with one trade you could own the whole S&P 500 index.

Professional traders keep the market price of ETFs in line with the value of the underlying stocks by arbitrage of any …

Every correction is the same, a normal downturn in one or more of the markets where we invest. There has never been a correction that has not proven to be an investment opportunity. You can be confident that governments around the world are not going to allow another Great Depression “on their watch”.

Every correction is different, the result of various economic and/or political circumstances that create the need for adjustments in the financial markets.
While everything is down in price, as it is now, there is actually less to worry about. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

In this case, an overheated real estate market, an overdose of financial bad judgment, and a damn the torpedoes stock market, propelled by demand for speculative derivative securities and Hedge Funds, finally came unglued.

But it is the reality of corrections that is …

Crash! The 2007 thru 2008 financial crisis halved 401(k), IRA, and Mutual Fund values in a matter of months. For many, retirement dates had to be pushed back; for others, new jobs had to be found. The tragic flaw? No income allocation in the investment program. Market value builds egos; income pays the bills.

Few employers cautioned Savings Plan participants that 401(k)s are just not defined benefit programs. Few mutual fund distributors suggested to benefit departments that their programs were missing something of critical importance.

Throughout the meltdown, all investment securities fell in market value. But the vast majority of income securities, including closed end income funds (CEFs), have continued to pay interest and dividends. Market value builds over-confidence; income pays the bills.

The Working Capital Model (WCM) is a comprehensive system for investment management that is based on uncompromising rules of engagement. …

There’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel— finally. Most of the really well respected, long term investors are advising their audiences to hang in there, to stop the panic selling, and to look for the great companies that have withstood the economic downturns of the past.

Buffet, Bogle, Gross, Schwab, and company offer sound advice— don’t run and hide, it’s time to hit the Wall Street Mall and go shopping! They’ve seen the indicators; they’ve been there before. So have many of you. Clearly, it’s time for action.

With IGV stock prices down 50% or more, and income securities as low or lower, Chuck Jaffe points out in MarketWatch that the case for loading up on managed Closed End Funds (CEFs) is a strong one. The great companies are in garage sale mode, and managed CEFs are selling at …

This is one podcast that I subscribe to and listen to religiously.

Vanguard’s Plain Talk on Investing podcast:
In this episode, “Index funds vs. active funds”, Vanguard Chief Investment Officer Gus Sauter will help you better understand two different approaches to mutual fund investing—indexing and active management.
Download the podcast in MP3 file.

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Very busy day today! I am cutting all 3 solar positions today but with a caveat - all 3 are under a resistance level; if the stocks show enough strength to break above this resistance, I'll buy back. They have been mostly range bound (strangely) with energy prices ballooning but there is a lot of strength today as the speculators run from 1 sector to another in their rotation. Looks like today is solar's turn. Let me explain each one Yingli Green Energy (YGE) is in the $22.70s. If it breaks north of $23 (200 day moving average) than it's in far better technical condition and I'd buy back my stake I sold... right now it's still range bound but at the top end of the range Trina Solar (TSL) is in the $43.10s; it could still work all the ...