Mutual fund investors are hurting themselves by trading their funds too frequently and buying at the wrong times, concludes a study of mutual fund cash flows by Gavin Quill, senior vice president of Financial Research Corp. in Boston, Mass. Quill studied the flows of money into and out of stock and bond mutual funds during the 1996 through 2000. He […]
Investments
Mutual fund concentration
Over the past month the stock of Enron Corp., one of the largest U.S. stocks, has been virtually wiped out as the energy trading company unraveled. Although many mutual funds hold the stock, a few will be particularly affected because they held big Enron positions. Three Janus funds—Janus Two, Special Situations, and Orion—and the Merrill Lynch Focus Twenty fund had […]
The Motley Fools are living up to their names
A big Internet phenomenon during the glory days of the stock market in 1999 was the Motley Fool website. The irreverent site was started in 1997 by David and Tom Gardner, two 30-something brothers out to show just average folks that they could beat the investment professionals and the markets with simple investment strategies. They touted stock picking as fun […]
Should you do something when stocks drop?
I have recently been asked by several friends, “Should the financial aftermath of the infamous terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 change my investment and financial planning?” Some investors have the feeling that conditions have changed so radically that they should rethink their plans. For most that may not be true. Here are some questions to ask yourself: Have my goals […]
