Let’s quickly survey the market so see what is still left standing:
It’s a mixed bag, for sure. Here are the few indicia that, while down, have not been clobbered as much as the broad market averages. (Of course, considering all the volatility last week, this may be completely outdated by the time this posts.)

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Pop Quiz
Q. What’s worse than having your diversified portfolio down one quarter or even one third from the tops reached last October?
A. Having your concentrated solo stock position down 75%. 90%. Or more.
You need to read E.S. Browning’s article, “Loyalty Pays a Bitter Dividend,” in the Oct 1, 2008 Wall Street […]

I’m reminded once again about why I’m queasy about index funds.
There is impressive documentation supporting the theory of indexing…and it would certainly lessen the burden of fund selection, freeing up a giant slug of time spent on this never ending task.
Which brings us back to the title of this post.
So Much for Fannie and Freddie
The […]

More proof that there can indeed be too much of a good thing.
The granddaddy of the ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) market is the original SPYder.
The idea was sound at the creation in 1993 and is still valid today. An index fund anchored to the S&P 500 with a rock bottom expense ratio of just […]

Following up on yesterday’s post regarding balanced funds…the new kid on the block is the asset class known as long-short funds.
Also known as the poor man’s hedge fund.
I’ll admit to being skeptical as to the ability of fund managers to tame this beast, as most portfolio managers in the traditional fund world have an inherent […]

Today we will look at Hybrids.
Not the car. The funds.
Hybrids mix two, or more, divergent strategies in the same fund to dampen volatility and even boost returns in difficult markets.
These funds are found under the headings of balanced funds, alternative funds, hybrid funds or specialty funds.
We are going to take a look under […]

P.I.K. = Payment in Kind.Part of our continuing series on the dysfunctional relationship between Wall Street and its hapless customers.
You may have first heard about this little gem back when lenders were still drinking the Kool Aid, and shoveling money into covenant lite loans.
It meant that the borrowers could exercise their PIK toggle, and […]

It’s time for your wake up call.
There is a trend underway to dumb down 401k accounts, on the theory, I suppose, that the dozen or so bad fund choices you now have to choose from are simply too complex to comprehend.
The name for this “simplifying” trend is “collective” funds. It even sounds scary […]