Look, I know a lot of you own Mutual Funds and ETFs, especially if you’re wrapped up with an advisor where you invest, he wins. Today, there’re maybe a handful of funds I’d put my own money into, and the same probably applies to yours. The problem is, once you set sail, it’s hard to change course. I get it. But don’t be fooled by past voyages. Mutual Funds and ETFs are sold to you based on past performance. That’s like loading up the boat before a hurricane thinking, “well, the last trip went just fine.” Looking through the rearview mirror isn’t how you drive. But it’s absolutely how funds … [Read more...]

Fund companies are racing hard to be the first to offer a bitcoin ETF. The Wall Street Journal's Michael Wursthorn reports on the risks of such funds, writing: Despite the additional safeguards, investors in such funds would have to deal with issues associated with trading futures, as well as the risks around cryptocurrencies. Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual-fund research at CFRA, warned that futures-based ETFs rarely replicate the performance of the underlying market they track. The reason is pricing fluctuations between futures contracts and the spot market, especially if demand … [Read more...]

Look at the huge money flowing into all the same stuff. This isn’t rocket science. At some point, when the fuel runneth dry—down, down, down they shall fall. Action Line: Prepare your portfolio now to avoid the madness of crowds. In The Wall Street Journal, Michael Wursthorn reports on the massive amount of money flowing into ETFs. He writes: Investors poured $705 billion into exchange-traded funds through the first seven months of the year, pushing 2021’s world-wide tally to a record $9.1 trillion, according to data from Morningstar Inc. Net flows so far this year have nearly … [Read more...]

UPDATE: The numbers are in. BlackRock is pushing around boardrooms to focus on everything BUT profits and shareholder return. Politico reports: At companies across the globe, BlackRock supported 64 percent of environmental proposals and about a third of social and governance resolutions put forth by shareholders in a year when workforce diversity and climate risk rose to the top of investor concerns. With $9 trillion in assets under management and ownership of more than 7 percent of shares on the S&P 500, BlackRock voted against corporate management at 42 percent of shareholder … [Read more...]

OK, Your Survival Guy timed the market, overweighted a sector, and got emotional—three things you NEVER want to do as an investor. But, hey, I’m Your Survival Guy, not Mr. Perfect, and you can learn a lot from me because I’ve seen a lot. Back in 2015, when coal was a dirty four-letter word, Your Survival Guy felt it was oversold. The market was crazy, I thought, and so I bought a coal ETF, symbol KOL. Hey, the world needs coal, right? Well, apparently not, as my position was cut down like a Georgia pine, except I never heard “Timber!” You see, Your Survival Guy doesn’t live or die by the … [Read more...]

Fire! Run for the exits! Another big bank has entered the carbon credit markets. I bet this is more about EGO than saving trees. It’s a perfect Wall Street creation: offer a way for the elite to offset their private jet wash by scrubbing it clean with carbon credits. What’s a carbon credit, you ask? It’s basically a way for you to give money to tree owners, for example, to not cut them down, and to save the environment. I’m serious. But you and I know it’s more about “what’s in your wallet?” Or as the Discover card double points rep says: “More money, more money!” The big boys know how to … [Read more...]

It used to be rare that regulators in Washington D.C., and money men on Wall St. would find common cause, but that has changed in an era when the government is so big, its subsidies alone drive the profits of many businesses. Big Wall St. firms like BlackRock have found a way to turn Washington into a profit machine. The Biden administration is loaded with former BlackRock employees. Do you think they left their high-paying jobs on Wall St. to do what's best for the farmers of Iowa or the fishermen of Maine? No, they came to Washington to grease the skids for policies that will make … [Read more...]