Blog

The past year offered an interesting mix of positive and negative news as investors around the world eagerly anticipated signs of economic recovery and financial stabilization. While most financial markets logged positive returns for a second straight year, investors had to endure a host of troubling news and pessimistic market predictions.

The New Year is now upon us and brokers are notorious for offering up their top picks for this year. Should you trust them? If the previous few years are any indication, probably not. The Wall Street Journal published an article looking at the track record of the top picks for the last few years and it was not impressive when compared the least recommended stocks.

With interest rates near historical lows, some investors may be anxious about a possible rate climb and its potential impact on their fixed income investments. Rising interest rates typically cause existing bonds to lose value.

David Booth, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Dimensional Fund Advisors, discusses the importance of balancing volatility risk and purchasing power risk when investing for retirement.

Our February 19, 2010 blog highlighted an article in the Wall Street Journal that discussed the possibility of a Japanese-style period of deflation in the United States. The article pointed out that although inflation was slightly positive, the core inflation rate (without volatile food and energy prices) was actually negative.

Proponents of active management believe that skilled managers can outperform the financial markets through security selection, market timing, and other efforts based on prediction.

Saddened by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, many Americans follow closely the progress emanating from British Petroleum (BP) on containing the leak. Grunden Financial Advisory, Inc. has the benefit of serving some clients in the oil and gas industry including one who actually worked on the Deepwater Horizon rig that sank in the explosion.

A recent article on CBS Money Watch [1] illustrates how some investors invest in Moringstar’s Five Star Ranked Funds (the highest Morningstar rating available) only to realize they’re late to the party.

There have been more news stories written about Greece in the past month than in the entire 2009 year. No doubt, the Greece debt crisis is the main source of these stories.

Jim Parker, a Vice President at DFA Australia Limited, shares his thoughts on how information is quickly priced into the stock valuations.

Long-time watchers of financial markets know that investors are always worrying about one thing or another. What's not often apparent is how quickly those worries are built into prices and how rapidly the narrative changes.