This is an excerpt of ETF Battles between TLT vs. BND on ETFguide TV – it’s a showdown between two ETFs focused on the U.S. bond market. Who wins the battle? TLT and BND go against each other in key areas, including cost, performance and yield TLT is focused on long-dated U.S Treasuries, while BND covers …
ETF Battles: BND vs. TLT – Which Bond ETF is Better? Read More »
This is an excerpt from ETF Battles on ETFguide TV between LQD vs. JNK – two bond ETFs at opposite spectrums of credit risk. Who wins the battle? In our latest ETF Battles, Ron DeLegge at ETFguide referees the match-up between the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Bond ETF (LQD) and the SPDR Barclays Capital …
The Coronavirus outbreak has turned out to be more than just a Black Swan – it’s a totally random Black Piano from the sky that takes the Black Swan by complete surprise, landing on the poor bird. The global pandemic has penetrated nearly every element of society, totally upending healthcare, politics, business and education. What …
Beefing up Your Investment Portfolio’s Tactical Side in the Coronavirus Era Read More »
This is an excerpt from the video titled Is a 3 ETF Portfolio Enough? with Ron DeLegge at ETFguide and Andrew Kadjeski at the Vanguard Group. Ron: The U.S. ETF Marketplace has grown to just over 2,350 ETFs with $4.4 trillion dollars. And with a marketplace that’s become this crowded, it’s created both chaos and …
Sitting atop this year’s performance gainers are leveraged ETFs. These are funds that use a combination of debt and derivatives to magnify their performance. Are leveraged ETFs right for you? Before tackling this question, let’s examine key trends within this arena. Among this year’s best ETFs are funds concentrated in semiconductors (NYSEARCA:SOXL), homebuilders (NYSEARCA:NAIL), and Chinese …
Portfolio diversification is an investment strategy designed to limit risk by spreading money across multiple asset classes and securities. Most financial literature along with your local financial advisor will agree that diversifying your investments is a prudent thing. But while diversification may seem like a straightforward process, it isn’t. And some investors and their advisors …
The difference between well-built and poorly designed buildings can be strikingly drastic. Take for example, I.M. Pei, the Chinese-American architect, who is a legend in his profession and has won many prestigious awards, including the Pritzker Prize. Among all the illustrious structures he’s designed, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH is the …
If you asked a thousand different people about the key factors that should drive their investment choices, you’re bound to get a thousand different answers. Some, for example, might be inclined to argue that U.S. stocks (NYSEARCA:SCHB) have increased for eight consecutive years and there’s no reason to make any portfolio changes because stock prices …
News flash: Investors who assumed their investments in conservative bonds and bond funds (Nasdaq:LSBRX) were safe from losses are learning otherwise. Since mid-2016, the performance for U.S. bonds (NYSEARCA:BND) with top credit grades have sunk almost 4%. For perspective, the 12-month yield on ETFs tracking the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is just 2.40%. Put another …
What’s your investment portfolio’s performance? Do you know? Just 57% of U.S. adults are “financially literate,” according to a study from Standard & Poor’s titled the “2015 Global Financial Literacy Survey.” Another study by a large insurance company found that people are more frightened by planning their finances than dying. What’s wrong? Part of the problem …
In retrospect, Brexit turned out to be more meaningful than Grexit. And while the immediate reaction of global financial markets (NYSEARCA:VT) to the England’s decisive vote to leave the European Union (EU) was negative, it’s a stark reminder of why investing without a margin of safety is negligent. With the exception of precious metals (NYSEARCA:GLTR), mining …
Are You Still Investing Without a Margin of Safety? Read More »
Higher investment risk leads to higher investment returns, right? It’s a Wall Street axiom that we’ve heard so many times it’s become ingrained in us. But conventional wisdom and reality have the peculiar habit of departing from one another. And what’s happening in 2016 is a noteworthy example of this grand departure. With the year already …
What’s more important? Making gains in the stock market or preventing losses? Before answering that question, let’s list a few common fallacies about risk: • The full spectrum of market risk can be accurately defined in a single magic formula or statistic • Long-term investing always guarantees success, so go ahead and take all the …
If You’re Not Preventing Stock Market Losses, You Better Start Now Read More »
Does your portfolio have a margin of safety? I ask that question because the total U.S. stock market (NYSEARCA:SCHB) has been rocky over the past few weeks and now has a year-to-date (YTD) loss of -1.23%. And since most investor underperform the stock market and the index ETFs tied to it, it’s fair to assume …
4 Things to Understand about Your Portfolio’s Margin of Safety Read More »
Heading into the final trading month of the year, the U.S. stock market has history riding on its side. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSEARCA:DIA), the S&P 500 (NYSEARCA:SPY), and the Nasdaq Composite (NasdaqGM:ONEQ) have all posted average of gains between +2.3% to 5.1% during the fourth quarter of pre-election years in the past 66 years. And …
Jack Bogle has made changes inside his personal investment portfolio. In a news interview last week, the legendary indexer revealed that his 60% allocation to U.S. stocks and 40% to bonds via index funds (Nasdaq:VBINX) has shifted to a more conservative asset split of 50/50 in each group. Bogle is the 86-year old founder of Vanguard Group, the …
Is the risk character of your investments compatible with you? If not, it’s a telltale sign that your investment portfolio is seriously flawed. Frequently, these risk incompatibilities are camouflaged by an uptrending stock market. But when the market reverses and volatility (NYSEARCA:VXX) jumps, the problems of investment portfolios with unsuitable risk levels becomes apparent. My latest Portfolio …
Portfolio Report Card: A $1.75 Million Account Sunk by Heavy Cost Read More »
It’s commonly and incorrectly presumed that people with large investment portfolios are smart investors. But as counterintuitive as it may sound, this false presumption is simply not true. How do I know? Because I’ve analyzed and graded many multi-million dollar investment portfolios ($27 million is the largest one I’ve graded so far this year) using …
Portfolio Exam: A Hyper-Aggressive $1.29 Million Portfolio with Flaws Read More »
Building an architecturally sound investment portfolio doesn’t happen by chance. A structurally strong and healthy portfolio is organized into three basic parts: 1) the portfolio’s core, 2) the portfolio’s non-core, and 3) the portfolio’s “margin of safety.” All portfolio parts complement each other by deliberating holding non-overlapping assets. (Audio) $1,000 Gold? + a $1.8 Million Portfolio …
People do the darndest things. For example, they put their investments in places where they don’t belong. This is a common problem suffered not just by retail investors, but by experienced professionals who are hired to advise them. In each case, there’s a poor understanding about the basic elements of a well-built portfolio. (In extreme cases, there may be knowledge of …