Monthly Archives: December 2011

This is the time of year when financial pundits give us the benefit of their wisdom. No end of predictions will be made, best fund managers will be anointed, and market timers will peer into their crystal balls to tell … Continue reading →

The evidence showing that most individual investors significantly underperform the market is compelling. A study done by Dalbar, a leading financial services market research firm, found that, during the 20 years from 1991 through 2010, the average stock fund investor … Continue reading →

Reeling from accusations of incompetence for its failure to detect the $17.3 billion Madoff Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  has unveiled a new analytical tool for uncovering fraudulent investment management operations. Essentially, the SEC has begun … Continue reading →

In this concluding article in the series exploring different ways investors might attempt to increase the income generated by their portfolios, we look at high-yield bonds. These securities offer a higher coupon payment than Treasuries and investment-grade corporate bonds at the … Continue reading →

In this continuing series exploring different ways investors might attempt to increase the annual income received from their portfolios, we look at preferred stock, a special equity security that has properties of both equity and debt instruments. In general, preferred … Continue reading →

by Dan Wheeler I was writing about speculation vs. investing last night, but I paused to watch a few minutes of Jon Corzine’s testimony before a Senate Committee investigating the disappearance of $1.2 billion of clients’ money at MF Global. As … Continue reading →