Barron’s had a solid write-up on gold over the weekend. “Gold has been a traditional hedge against financial and economic crises, playing that role during the 2008-09 meltdown. Gold rallied 17% from the collapse of Lehman Brothers on Sept. 15, 2008, until the stock market bottomed on March 9, 2009—a period during which the S&P 500 fell more than 40%,” explains Andrew Bary. But what is worth noting is the recent change in the mandate of the Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining fund away from precious-metal mining at perhaps the worst time. This is yet another example of how mutual funds … [Read more...]

My quick answer is no. Because everywhere I turn there’s yet another ETF being formed and an article espousing their benefits. And with Wall Street firms plastering their names on all sorts of ETFs, the landscape has become littered with products that would feel more at home on the Vegas Strip. Investors be warned: Passive investing basically guarantees benchmark returns. Make sure your portfolio doesn’t rely too much on the wrong measuring stick. As Robert Powell reports in USA Today, it's also a good idea to avoid newly launched ETFs: Well-known, long-established indices are better … [Read more...]

Jason Zweig, writing at The Wall Street Journal, details some inexplicable behavior by mutual fund managers, including generating massive tax bills for owners. You should try to avoid funds doing things like this. He writes: Mutual funds made one hot mess out of August. On Aug. 10, Fidelity Investments conducted stock splits on some of its biggest funds, cutting their per-share prices by a factor of 10 while giving investors 10 times as many shares -- a gesture that leaves shareholders exactly where they were before. On Aug. 22, Harbor Capital Advisors, which runs the $20 billion Harbor … [Read more...]

One of the problems facing long-term, patient investors using mutual funds and ETFs is that many of their fellow investors are traders. It’s why we favor individual stocks where you call the shots. Asjylyn Loder reports in The Wall Street Journal on the volatile nature of fund flows, writing: BlackRock said Monday it received $20 billion in net inflows in the second quarter. While the sum is enormous, it was down from more than $100 billion a year ago. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager and a bellwether of low-cost index-based investing. BlackRock isn’t alone: For the first six … [Read more...]

When times are tough Vanguard GNMA, managed by Wellington Management, has been an absolute force for retired and soon-to-be retired investors. Pay attention here. We’ve already had two substantial cracks in the market so far this century. Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com. … [Read more...]

“E.J., what’s going on with Vanguard GNMA?” my mother asked me the other day. “Hi mom” I said. “Hang in there.” Hard to believe but Vanguard GNMA is yielding just over three percent today. Yes, its price is down but you only lose when you sell. And I’m not selling. I’m buying more at lower prices and taking the three percent. Because it’s a three percent world. I’m just living in it. “How about bank CDs?” you might ask. I see the teaser rates out there. But you can feel like a mouse on a wheel chasing rates and locking in FDIC protection. You can put a lot of money in Vanguard GNMA and … [Read more...]

Over the past year, the total return for Vanguard Wellesley has been just over five and half percent. “Five and a half percent? What’s so great about that,” you might think. Well, it can be great if you’re a patient investor and you allow the miracle of compound interest, what Albert Einstein is said to have referred to as the eighth wonder of the world, to work its magic for you. Father Time can be your friend, as I will explain in a moment. Yesterday, I was speaking with a client whom I’ve been working with since his mid-50s. He’s in his early 70s now but it hardly feels like close to … [Read more...]