Is This A Good Time To Invest In Bonds?

Is This A Good Time To Invest In Bonds?

You’ve probably heard through the financial media that bonds are on a tear this year. The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond, one of the safest investments on the planet, has gained over 10% so far. That is its best performance in over a decade. Is this the right time to start selling those risky stocks and…
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Beware of Overconfidence Bias

In 2006 James Montier, a researcher at the investment banking arm of Dresdner Bank, decided to test the behavioral biases of some 300 investment fund managers. One of the questions he asked was “Are you above average at your job?” Over 70% of the respondents answered yes. A number even included comments along the lines…
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Does Yesterday’s Market Drop Portend a Recession?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) experienced another jarring 800-point drop yesterday, roughly a 3% loss. The media attributes it to (1) the inversion of the yield curve and (2) the 0.1% decline in Germany’s GDP. Talk of an impending recession has ramped up. Most likely the questions on investors’ minds are “Is a recession…
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The Power of Hindsight

Do you wish you had invested in Cisco when it went public in 1990? Or Microsoft in 1986? What about Qualcomm, which is up almost 10,000% since its inception in 1991 (just a bit higher than the S&P 500’s paltry 600% equivalent gain). I can’t tell you how many times I hear that regretful refrain…
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The Ugly Way To Become Rich

There is no shortage of promoters of wealth-building schemes. Many start by writing books extolling secrets that they learned along the way to their own alleged success. If their fame from their books grows they often develop seminars and training classes designed to provide more secrets, tools, and motivation to help you become rich like…
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How Many Pages Of Regulations Does It Take To Create A Loophole?

I’ll start with the answer: 771 pages. That’s the size of the new “Regulation Best Interest: The Broker-Dealer Standard of Conduct” rule just approved by the SEC. Why did the SEC feel we needed this legislation? It’s a long story. After the 1929 collapse of the U.S. stock market and the subsequent Great Depression of…
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