Toronto-based adviser taking advantage of rally to sell high-flying stocks and buy more of his favorite bond ETFs and DFA funds.

 

Mike Bayer considers himself a contrarian investor.

In the past few months, as stock markets soared, that sort of go-against-the-grain approach has taken center stage.

The Toronto, Canada-based adviser and president of Strategic Analysis Capital Management says he prefers to buy exchange-traded funds and mutual funds from Dimensional Fund Advisors when they’re out of favor.

“The problem most investors have is that they tend to trade too frequently and make changes in the wrong direction. They’re buying high and selling low,” said Bayer, who works with individual and institutional clients in Canada and the United States.

Since early March, SACM has been taking advantage of the rally in stocks to rebalance client portfolios. Bayer has been trimming positions in the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF (NYSE: VWO).

“Emerging markets have had a big run-up in

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Here in South Florida, we’ve had torrents of badly needed rain recently. But after an already long week, the last thing I needed on top of it was a booming thunderstorm in the middle of the night.

As if that wasn’t bad enough itself, add some scared kids into the mix and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a night of terrible sleep.

But as I slogged into the office this morning and began working on the latest investing in small-cap stocks research report for my small-cap healthcare service, Access, a perfectly timed e-mail hit my inbox…

Dear Access Research Team,

I just wanted to let you know that as of today, May 20, barely 5 weeks after becoming a subscriber, my portfolio is up 36% and has surpassed the cost of my subscription. I was very hesitant to plunk down, what was to me, a large chunk of cash for your information

...

By Mike Caggeso
Associate Editor
Money Morning

[Editor’s Note: Money Morning Investment Director Keith Fitz-Gerald is the editor of the new Geiger Index trading service. As the whipsaw trading patterns investors have endured this year have shown, the ongoing global financial crisis has changed the investment game forever.

Uncertainty is now the norm and that new reality alone has created a whole set of new rules that will help determine who profits and who loses. Investors who ignore this “New Reality”will struggle, and will find their financial forays to be frustrating and unrewarding. But investors who embrace this change will not only survive – they will thrive. With the Geiger Index, Fitz-Gerald has already isolated these new rules and has unlocked the key to what he refers to as “Golden Age of Wealth Creation” The Geiger Index system allows Fitz-Gerald to predict the price …

Portfolio manager says those who've kept a level head in rough times should be well-positioned now to take advantage of attractive valuations. 

Kenneth Smith has been spending a lot of time lately trying to make sure that market volatility doesn't send investors into a tail spin.

As a result, the chief investment officer at Seattle-based Empirical Wealth Management says that the high net-worth and institutional clients he works with aren't ready to panic yet.  

But he credits such realistic expectations to not only this year's educational push. Smith explains that he has been sounding a similar theme when markets were running strong from 2003 through late last year. The difference, he says, is that during bull markets the message has been to not chase asset classes that are performing well. 

Now, conditions are different. But the veteran advisor and portfolio managers says keeping a level head and remaining unemotional as market volatility remains high

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Oxford Club’s Alexander Green says making the switch from mutual funds to ETFs can save thousands in taxes and expenses. Changing funds now can also help psychologically, by locking this year’s huge losses in the past. Alex lists eight ETFs that can “help turn market lemons into lemonade.”

This from Investment U:

With the stock market’s historic drop this year, some investors have fled to cash. Others are cautiously buying. Most, however, are sitting on their hands.

They shouldn’t be.

Even if you lack the cash - or the willpower - to buy into this market, there is still a very smart move you can make: switch.

Switch from your poor-performing, high-cost, tax-inefficient stock and bond mutual funds to index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

It’s a very smart move. Here’s why…

Why Choose Exchange Traded Funds Over Mutual Funds?

Compared to exchange traded funds, most mutual funds are

...

Exchange Traded Funds: An Investment Move You Need to Make…

by Alexander Green, Chairman, Investment U Investment Director, The Oxford Club Monday, November 24, 2008: Issue #891

With the stock market’s historic drop this year, some investors have fled to cash. Others are cautiously buying. Most, however, are sitting on their hands.

They shouldn’t be.

Even if you lack the cash - or the willpower - to buy into this market, there is still a very smart move you can make: switch.

Switch from your poor-performing, high-cost, tax-inefficient stock and bond mutual funds to index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

It’s a very smart move. Here’s why…

Why Choose Exchange Traded Funds Over Mutual Funds?

Compared to exchange traded funds, most mutual funds are a lousy deal, here’s why:

Each year more than three-quarters of them fail to match the performance of their benchmarks.

 

Many are loaded with front-end or back-end loads, 12b-1 fees, ...