Posts Tagged fund
Three Critical Things You Need to Know About Emergency Funds
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Fund Markets on Апрель 5th, 2011
Everyone talks about how important it is to have an emergency fund, but few people talk about what kind of emergency fund that should be.
After all, there’s a big difference between stuffing money in a shoe box for a rainy day and setting up a savings account. Take it up a level, and there’s a big difference between letting your money hang out in a standard savings account and investing in a no-penalty CD or money market account.
So if you’re wondering exactly where you should put those emergency funds, here are some thoughts to consider:
You Want to Make Sure Your Money Is Accessible
We’ll start with the obvious. This is an emergency fund, so while you may want your money to earn a little interest, little is the critical word here. Read the rest of this entry »
Following the Money: Venture Capital Flocks to Emerging Markets
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Favourites, Investing on Апрель 1st, 2011
The venture capital universe has grown, and the U.S. is no longer at the center of it. That was the message from investors speaking at the Global Technology Symposium on Sand Hill Road last week.
«The world is opening up,» Tim Draper, founder of VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, said in a keynote speech at the Menlo Park, Calif., event. «New technologies are happening everywhere and we’ve got to be prepared for a new globalization of the world.»
Part of the reason for VC’s globalization is that U.S. has lost ground as the biggest market economy, he said. After all, the richest man in the world (Carlos Slim) is Mexican, the tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa) is in Dubai, and the most valuable company in the world is in China, he added. At one point last year, Petro China (PTR) had the largest market capitalization of any public company in the world, but it’s currently smaller than Exxon Mobil (XOM) or Apple (AAPL).
Foreign investments now make up half of the successful VC deals — those in which investors get a return of at least 10 times the amount they invested — he said. Among emerging markets, DFJ has made investments in Russia, the Ukraine, India and China, for instance. «We have no idea where the next Baidu … is going to come from,» Draper said. Read the rest of this entry »
How to Invest in Commodities, Carefully
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Investing on Декабрь 22nd, 2010
All through the year, commodity prices have been rising: Copper has soared 24.5% since 2010 began, while gold is up 23%. Wheat, corn and oil also have continued to climb. Unsurprisingly, that growth has attracted many investors. Is this a good time for small investors, too, to put some money in commodities?
Adrian Day, a financial adviser who has just published a book about commodities called Investing in Resources, cautions small investors that commodities are incredibly volatile. «Trying to play commodities in the short term is a recipe for disaster,» he says. Commodity prices have already climbed so high in the last couple of months that he has become a «little bit cautious,» he adds.
But Day remains bullish about using long-term commodities investments to diversify portfolios, even for the little guy. After all, some good fundamentals are behind the commodities’ growth, including the continuing strength of the Chinese economy — which has created huge demand for many commodities — and signs that the U.S. starting to improve. «With many metals, they’re unable to increase production, and the price is just continuing to go up» as demand increases, Day says.
First Steps
How can small investors best tap into this trend? There are myriad ways to invest in commodities, of course, such as via futures and options offered by CME Group. But those types of commodities futures and options require sophisticated knowledge and can be very risky for a novice investor, Day warns. Read the rest of this entry »
Our Picks For Inflation Protection
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Business, Favourites on Декабрь 15th, 2010
If there’s a small silver lining amid the current economic malaise, it’s that inflation has been pretty muted.
But investors ignore inflation at their own peril. Even if massive amounts of government stimulus don’t prompt inflation, there’s still the possibility of price spikes here in the United States as a result of still-red-hot economic growth in emerging markets. Widespread rising prices, in turn, could amount to erosion in the purchasing power of any assets you’ve managed to save or invest. By the time you start tapping your portfolio to meet your income needs, those dollars could be worth a lot more than they are right now.
That’s why it’s so important to ensure that your portfolio is adequately protected against inflation. Some inflation-fighting vehicles have explicit protection against rising prices, such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. Others, such as stocks, protect against inflation indirectly.
Here’s an overview of the key vehicles with inflation-fighting attributes, as well as some of Morningstar’s top picks within those groups.
Inflation-Protected Bonds Read the rest of this entry »
A Hazard Of Buying Bond Funds Now
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Favourites, Fund Markets on Сентябрь 30th, 2010
A number of us here at Weiss have been warning you about the dangers of buying bonds in this ultra-low-interest-rate environment, especially longer-dated U.S. Treasuries.
But as I recently told my Dad’s Income Portfolio subscribers, I think mainstream investors are still ignoring the risks they’re taking with bonds, particularly when it comes to fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
And this topic is so important that I want to explore it a little more today with you. After all …
Investors Have Been Snapping Up
Bond Funds at a Record Pace Lately
According to the Investment Company Institute, investors were net sellers of stock market mutual funds in the first seven months of this year, withdrawing more than $30 billion.
At the same time, they plowed a net $273 billion just into taxable bond funds! Read the rest of this entry »
Could The Recession Be Retreating?
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Trading Markets on Сентябрь 22nd, 2010
Starting in 2008, 10% of the country’s largest companies to cut costs and opted to stop contributing to their employees’ 401(k) plans. Reducing health care costs weren’t an option, because this takes months of planning. Pension plans couldn’t be stopped quickly. And laying off employees would still mean an expense in paying out severance.
Many smaller companies are still reluctant to reinstating employer matching until there is further confirmation that the economy has recovered. Employers don’t want to reinstate a match, just to have to suspend it again next year. Robert Ferris, representing Honeywell International Inc., said that they don’t plan to increase it «until there is greater certainty in the economy».
However, FedEx Corporation just announced that they would restore the matching fund contributions to its employees’ 401(k) plans, starting in January of 2011.
When the recession started, FedEx saw an alarming drop in shipping volume as customers chose cheaper shipping options. FedEx reacted by reducing $3 billion in costs through layoffs (of which this article’s author was a victim), management pay cuts, and suspending the 401(k).
The company’s revenue has been rebounding for the past year. In fact, FedEx has recently raised its profit outlook for the first fiscal quarter, as well as for the year. Read the rest of this entry »
The Future Of Banking
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Banks, Favourites on Сентябрь 2nd, 2010
The banking industry is always in a state of transition. Banks are also coming out with new products to attract customers. Over the past 20 years, we have seen direct deposit, online banking, banking applications, and automated tellers. All of these products were designed to save money and make banking easier for customers. So, what are banks working on now to improve operations?
Here are 3 ways that technology will make your banking life easier over the next few years.
1. Fewer Trips To The Bank
Remote-deposit capture is the new big thing in banking. Remote deposit capture allows customers to make a bank deposit without leaving their house. Customers can take a picture of a check at home. The computer receives the image and verifies the amount, check number, account number, and the bank’s routing number. A photo of the back of the check verifies that it’s been signed by the recipient. A clearinghouse then routes the funds from the check writer’s account to that of the recipient. Funds are available for withdrawal without ever setting foot in a bank.
2. Fewer Bank Tellers
Banks will always need tellers to address customers but tellers are being replaced by bank technology. First, there was the invention of Automated Teller Machines (ATM). Now, a few major credit unions are trying branches with very few tellers. The bank lobbies have no physical tellers. The teller transacts all business with the customer via a video camera. The teller can see and hear the customer but the customer never physically sees a bank teller. This cuts down on robberies and reduces the number of tellers needed. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Investment Ideas That Provide Income
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Investing on Июль 1st, 2010
As of this moment, the S&P/TSX Composite index is down 384.58 point or -3.27% year to date. The S&P 500 is down 67.32 or -6.04% year to date. That is your market update. When the global economic outlook appears uncertain and on the brink of another recession, equity markets reflect this reality in terms of greater than normal volatility. In markets like these, what we should be looking for are non-correlated assets and managers that have demonstrated the expertise to preserve capital during uncertain times like today.
In addition, one should also be focusing their efforts on receiving some form of income while the economic climate sorts itself. The following 4 ideas should hopefully accomplish both those goals. While we cant speak to the best/worst time to buy/sell particular securities, as that depends on one’s personal circumstances, the approach we usually take, especially with closed end funds, is to purchase them when they are trading at the steeper than normal discount to their Net Asset Value (NAV). The only other thing we would like to add is that you should do you own due diligence.
Trident Performance Corp.
This closed end fund is managed by CI Investments. Its investment objective is to provide tax-efficient risk-adjusted long term rates of return by obtaining exposure to a Global Macroeconomic Portfolio, advised by Trident Investment Management. Co-Founded in 1998, by Nandu Narayanan, Trident Investment Management seeks to exploit macroeconomic trends to generate attractive risk-adjusted rates of return with low or negative correlation to traditional ‘long’ investments. This is exactly what Mr. Narayanan did during the financial crisis, when the CI Global Opportunities Fund recorded positive performance of 109% in 2007 and 42.6% in 2008. Since inception in March 1995, the fund has averaged 19.69% as of the end of May 31, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Active money management or buy and hold?
Posted by Oksana Grebenjuk in Investing on Май 10th, 2010
With so much volatility in the stock market, investors saving for retirement must decide what investment approach may work best over the long term. Some market players question the wisdom of a «buy and hold» investment strategy, embracing active management instead.
The debate is not new, but perhaps it’s become more heated after the roller coaster ride of the past decade.
Before making fundamental changes to your investment approach, here’s what you need to know about active money management versus buy and hold.
The argument for active management
Supporters of active money management say that buy and hold is not a good long-term investment strategy for the small investor. They note that the most recent decade was not the only period of time that stocks — the assets favored in buy-and-hold portfolios — underperformed other, less risky, assets.
For example, from 1966 to 1982, the S&P 500 produced no real return (meaning it did not keep up with inflation), underperforming one-month Treasury bills by 0.2 percent per year. From 1966 to 1988, U.S. large growth stocks consistently underperformed one-month CDs. Read the rest of this entry »
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