BestNoLoadFunds.com : March 2008

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Funds News Update

Mutual funds pile into cash - BloggingStocks: "If you're like most people, you probably have a larger percentage of your investment money in cash than you had two years ago. While some investors are taking their chances in this recent market volatility, many are choosing to wait on the sidelines..."
Another Look At S&P 500 Retail Index Funds -: "A long-standing debate exists about whether a mutual fund’s performance is due to the quality of management, other fund attributes or just luck. Although some portfolio managers of actively managed funds may have stock-picking talent, actively managed funds, on average, underperform benchmark portfolios with equivalent risk."
Bear Stearns's Good News: An ETF First - WSJ.com: "The race to launch the first "actively managed" exchange-traded fund -- one that doesn't merely track an index -- has come to an end. And an unlikely victor crossed the finish line first: Bear Stearns Cos."
Investor's Business Daily: Fidelity 'Sector' Fund Plies Many Fields: "What do you call a fund that invests in fields as diverse as health care, tobacco, beer, department stores, cosmetics and farm fertilizers? And how about if 24% of its money is at work in foreign stocks?"

(permalink) -- Posted by KenW

Friday, March 21, 2008

Funds News and Views

Whatever You Do, Avoid Mutual Funds: "I'm here to steer you straight -- away from dastardly mutual funds and toward more sensible investments. Such as ... well, I'll think of some soon. In the meantime, let me try to name the countless drawbacks of mutual funds."
ETF Guide: Financial Advisor and Investment Guide for Exchange Traded Funds: "There is something I have noticed while reviewing ETFs which all investors should be aware: on many ETF factsheets, you will see historical returns. Many of these returns are for the index, which is hypothetical, and certainly not the actual returns of the fund. "
Average investors get the chills as market takes its medicine - MarketWatch: "As an individual investor these days, it's hard not to feel that every move being made to save the market from the current economic turmoil is being done for someone else."
Ingredients in place for 'bear market squeeze,' survey says - MarketWatch: "Fund managers are looking for a reason to buy equities, at least in the short term, according to Merrill Lynch's monthly survey of 193 firms with $676 billion in assets out Wednesday."
Growth stocks holding up better in market decline - MarketWatch: "There's something unusual going on in the stock market, if you haven't noticed, and it could spell opportunity or risk for your portfolio."
Bear Pulls Its Actively Managed ETF Following Collapse - Articles - Financial Planning: "Bear Stearns has pulled The Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund that was supposed to begin trading on the American Stock Exchange Tuesday. The fund would have been the first actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the market. The race now forges on."
Resource Investor - Commentaries - American Apocalypse: The End of U.S. Investing As We Know It?: "...opportunists from Warren Buffett to institutional money managers do not stay sidelined for long. They know... we all know... that it is hugely rewarding to 'get a little greedy when everyone else is fearful.'"

(permalink) -- Posted by KenW

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Funds News Roundup

The Warren Buffett Mutual Fund - The Money Times: "The good news is that you can get more affordable access to Buffett and his collection of subsidiaries and equity holdings -- a lineup that recently included Moody's (NYSE: MCO) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) -- for smaller sums. How so? Via mutual funds that hold Berkshire shares in their portfolios."
The Right Mutual Funds for You: "Not only do mutual funds diversify your portfolio, but a well-chosen fund also takes some of the legwork out of monitoring your investments, so you can get back to the things that really matter."
The Real Returns: 10-year index fund returns: "The table below lists the 10-year performance as of 2/29/2008 of all the Vanguard index funds where 10-year performance data is available. I have included all bond index funds, a balanced funds and a bunch of international funds along with domestic index funds."
Now That More ETFs Could Be Available to Mutual Funds, Will They Bite? | ETF Trends: "Thanks to a proposed rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , it will become easier for mutual funds to invest in exchange traded funds (ETFs). But the question is, will they?"
Mutual-funds assets rise, but growth slows: "Mutual funds, like many of their shareholders, are looking a little gray around the temples. After a dizzying ascent in the 1980s and 1990s, when funds became the preferred investment choice for millions of Americans, the industry's growth has stalled a bit. Assets are rising, but the shareholder count has leveled off."
How to be Rich, Happy and Free from Scams: 5 ways to stay calm in a down market: "When stocks are falling, take these steps. They'll keep you from doing things you'll be sorry for later."
If You Could Make Only One Investment ...: "...mutual funds should be your vehicle of choice. Why place all of your hard-earned moola on a single horse when you can spread your bets around and sleep peacefully with a top-notch fund?"

(permalink) -- Posted by KenW

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Funds News and Views

Morningstar's Approach to Analyzing Mutual Funds - Morningstar: "The five key questions we ask."
Stocks for All Seasons: 10 ETFs I'd like to see: "Here are ten new ETFs that I would like to see added to the stable."
planadviser - Affluent Investors Like Both Mutual Funds and Alternatives: "Research by The Phoenix Companies finds affluent households invest significantly in both mutual funds and alternatives, and half plan to change their investment allocations in the next year."
Six Things Your Mutual Funds Should Do: "...if you are patient and persistent, you can still find funds that will guard your money and work to obtain the best total return. This is the premise of Columbia University professor and longtime corporate critic Louis Lowenstein's new book 'The Investor's Dilemma'..."
Investor's Business Daily: Manager Searches For Hidden Growth: "You wouldn't exactly call Michael Carmen a soothsayer. But when it comes to asset management, he definitely is trying to predict future events — well before they happen."
ETF INVESTING: New ETFs Capitalize On Revenue-weighted...: "The latest tweak: ETFs that rank companies by revenue."
TIPS ETF Driven Higher By Inflation Worries: "Call it fear insurance. The current flight to quality has investors eschewing equities for fixed-income strategies. One of the hottest strategies has been funds that feature Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS."
Investor's Business Daily: Funds Like Visa Despite Size Concern: "Some fund managers see the Visa initial public offering as a growth story despite concerns about the huge size of the offering."
Even In These Markets, You Can Still Find ETF Movers and Shakers | ETF Trends: "There are a number of ETFs sitting well above their trend lines. Take a look at them, keep an eye on them and if they fit into your overall portfolio and are moving in an overall upward direction, they could be well worth considering:..."
Top3 Tax Saving Mutual Funds (ELSS) « Tech and Trek: "...here are my top 3 Tax Saving Mutual Funds."
Don't Judge An Index Fund By Its Cover: "To some investors, it is reasonable to assume that all index funds perform the same; however, a deeper look will uncover all sorts of discrepancies between funds."
Active ETFs Might Beat the Market: Jane Bryant Quinn: "The first actively managed exchange- traded funds will show up on your broker's screen later this month."
A Model Portfolio: The Coffeehouse Portfolio Uncommon Cents: (Hopefully) simple personal finance: "While the portfolio didn’t do so well in 2007, its average over three and five years beats the S&P 500 handily. I also like the fact that the portfolio can be comprised entirely of ETFs, both in terms of low cost and low barrier to entry."

(permalink) -- Posted by KenW

Friday, March 07, 2008

Fund News, Weekend Reading

Six Mutual Funds You've Never Heard of that Could be Big Winners: "Looking at funds with less than $60 million in assets, ...some names popped out at me as fitting the bill, with top-flight results, reasons to believe that can continue and loads of potential."
ETF Performance Recap: Commodities Lead; Nasdaq, Chindia Lead Declines - Seeking Alpha: "The US markets are down about 5%, and many foreign markets are down even more. India's INP is down nearly 13% over the past five days, while China's FXI is down 7.14%."
Five U.S. Market Sectors Ready To Ride Momentum Higher: "...March tends to be investor-friendly. U.S. stocks have posted gains in March two-thirds of the time since 1945, with an average increase of 1.05%, says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor's Inc."
Investor's Business Daily: Columbia Fund Takes On The Forsaken: "Guy Pope loves misery. "I try to take advantage of fear and pessimism around stocks," said the manager of Columbia Common Stock Fund."
Five Mutual Funds That Newlyweds can Vow Not to Part With: "...we chose five funds to consider for an "Us" portfolio. Each promise shareholders some of the key vows couples make to each other: consistency, predictability, attention and conscientiousness -- qualities worth having and holding in any relationship."
ETF Yield Hunting - Forbes.com: "Exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds have various ways of generating income for shareholders."
'Smart Money' Identifies Superior Mutual Funds: "The study shows that within the realm of actively managed funds, investors consistently find funds that will perform better than average in the future."

(permalink) -- Posted by KenW