Barron’s ran a featured story by Kopin Tam in last weekend’s edition titled “Just Don’t Lose It” that was telling.  Tam pointed out that, even after the best January in well over a decade, investors weren’t embracing equities, and neither were their financial advisors.  Only 44 percent of financial advisors planned to increase their clients’...Read More

“This book should not be controversial, but it will be,” writes Michael Dever in the introduction to Jackass Investing. “That is because investing, which should be a rational pursuit, is not… [M]ost people’s investment decisions are not based on rational facts. They’re based on myths and emotions.” Regrettably, Mr. Dever is correct in his assessment....Read More

The financial planning industry has no shortage of voices offering advice.  Unfortunately, they all tend to say the same thing, and it’s not what most investors need or want.  In fact, it’s often the exact opposite. Above all, most investors want security.  They want to know that the nest egg they’ve spent a lifetime building...Read More

I read a fact this week that I never expected to read in my lifetime: “The Japanese government is expected to announce Wednesday that the country recorded its first annual trade deficit since 1980″ (see ” End of Era for Japan’s Exports “). Trade deficit? Japan? Japan’s economy has been a slow-motion train wreck for...Read More

Writing for The Wall Street Journal’s SmartMoney, Alex Tarquinio discusses the pitfalls of international ETF investing:  The ETF industry now offers 73 single-country funds, almost double the number from two years ago, with $47 billion under management. But having a thriving economy doesn’t mean that a country’s ETF won’t get crushed. One problem: Very few...Read More