By 2 Cents on February 1st, 2012 | Category: 20 Cents | So the first month of 2012 is behind us. Did you set any goals for the year? How are they coming along? There were some fantastic financial articles out there last month. Here’s a tiny sample:
1. Farnam Street posted an excerpt from a new study on Willpower & New Year’s Resolutions. Apparently, the key to keeping our resolutions is to make sure we don’t need to call on our willpower too often by minimizing temptations. That’s probably why automating your finances by paying yourself first works.
2. The World Economic Forum takes place in Davos, Switzerland each January. Umair Haque pointed out Ten Things You’re Not Allowed to Say at Davos. Enlightening.
3. Take a look at this interview with Danielle Park at Cambridge House in Vancouver. “Wise investors concerned about the real direction of [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from January 2012
By 2 Cents on August 8th, 2011 | Category: Investing |  Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.
~Plato
In our recent discussions about the Couch Potato style of investing, I mentioned that this strategy relies on historical market returns. I pointed out that including a component that reflects valuations might improve the strategy. This is basically the Valuation Informed Indexing approach about which Rob Bennett often writes.
I mentioned in my last post that I like to look at historical data regarding market performance and valuations, but that I didn’t want to rely on it completely. I’ll explain my thinking here and you guys can let me know what you think.
Past Performance Is Not Indicative of Future Results
“History is a vast early warning system.” ~Norman Cousins
One of the [...]
Read on and enjoy … History Only Rhymes
By 2 Cents on July 15th, 2011 | Category: Investing |  Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater.
~William Hazlitt
If you believe the opening quote, we are in for some great lessons – at least according to Felix Zulauf of Zulauf Asset Management in Switzerland. The transcript of a recent interview with him was published by McAlvany Weekly Commentary. It is optimistically entitled Marching Full Speed into Calamity.
It’s rare to find such great detail in a single interview, especially if you’re accustomed to consuming your market commentary via television, where guests are rarely allowed to finish a sentence let alone expand on their thoughts. This far-ranging discussion covers Zulauf’s views on everything from stocks, bonds, and gold to sovereign debt and the fate of the European Union.
His views are not too far from my own, and he even uses a similar weather analogy. (See 5 Year Market Outlook: Felix Zulauf
By 2 Cents on May 4th, 2011 | Category: 20 Cents |  I’ve been pretty distracted lately with the whole house-hunting/moving to a new city thing, so I haven’t been able to follow the financial world as closely as usual. In spite of being out of town and preoccupied a fair bit in April, I was able to dig up some real gems for this month’s round-up. I hope you enjoy them!
1. Regular readers will recognize David Stockman’s name as I’ve referred to his writing a few times. He has some very strong views on the U.S. fiscal situation and the role of the Federal Reserve in the economy and the markets. He expressed those views again last month in a New York Times Op-Ed on The Bipartisan March to Fiscal Madness. Whether you agree with all of Mr. Stockman’s analysis or not, it’s nice to read some straightforward give-your-head-a-shake prose that’s not oozing [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from April 2011
By 2 Cents on February 14th, 2011 | Category: Investing |  One bright day in the middle of night two dead boys rose to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot one another. A deaf policeman heard the noise, and saved the lives of the two dead boys. If you don’t believe this lie is true, ask the blind man, he saw it too.
~Author Unknown
Update: This article was chosen for the Best of Money Carnival #91 posted at Intelligent Speculator. Thanks!
Are you confused about inflation yet? Everywhere you turn some analysts are worrying about rising commodity prices while others, including Fed Chairman Bernanke, point to the tame core inflation rate. Back in August of 2010, it looked like a double dip recession was in the cards and we were worrying about deflation. Then the Fed threw the stock market a QE2 bone and Read on and enjoy … Wake Up and Smell the Inflation
By 2 Cents on January 14th, 2011 | Category: Book Reviews |  Stock market activity over the last ten years has proven that “buy and hold” is a dead concept and it’s very likely that going forward over the next ten years, “buy and hold” will continue to be an invalid and ineffective concept. Because over the last ten years, the S&P 500 has generated a negative rate of return and that doesn’t even factor in the ravaging effects that inflation has on your portfolio.
~ John Nyaradi
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Wealth#21 at Personal Dividends as well as the Wealth Builder Carnival #24 at My Wealth Builder. Thanks!
John Nyaradi’s book Super Sectors: How to Outsmart the Market Using Sector Rotation and ETFsis relatively new, having been released in September of 2010. Much of the information it contains, however, marries the analysis of contemporary market conditions [...]
Read on and enjoy … Book Review: Super Sectors
By 2 Cents on January 7th, 2011 | Category: Planning |  Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
~ Hal Borland
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning #170 posted at The Skilled Investor.
Objectively, there’s nothing magical about the beginning of a New Year. Midnight on January 1st is just another minute. But it does serve as a reminder to us that time marches on and that it’s a good idea to look at where we’ve been and where we might be going. We’ve been doing that this week, and we finish off today by zooming in on some more specific themes that will continue to evolve in 2011. Many of these themes will serve as hinges for the markets and the economy: a swing in one direction is bullish, while a move [...]
Read on and enjoy … 2011: What to Watch
By 2 Cents on January 5th, 2011 | Category: Planning |  Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.
~Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A.A. Milne
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Wealth #20 at Personal Dividends as well as The Wealth Builder Carnival #23 at My Wealth Builder. Thanks!
On Monday we reviewed our thoughts on 2010. Today we’ll look at a general outlook for 2011. It’s difficult to predict the direction of the economy and next to impossible to foresee the twists and turns of the stock market over the course of a year, so I won’t attempt it. Still, it’s good to at least be aware of some of the key themes that could affect your money and your life in the coming 12 months.
There will be two [...]
Read on and enjoy … 2011 What Ifs: Overview
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