We are reading a lot of hype these days about gold and the necessity to own it but only about 2% of ‘investors’ actually have gold in their portfolios and those that have done so have insufficient quantities to offset the future impact of inflation and to maximize their portfolio returns. New research, however, has determined a specific percentage to accomplish such objectives. Words: 1063
“Every portfolio should have a 10% core holding of gold and silver as emergency money” was the simple and timeless message in Glen O. Kirsch conveyed 19 years ago in an article entitled: “What’s in Your Core Holdings?” and such a message is even more appropriate today given the unsettling fiscal, economic and investment environment. Words: 692
Over the longer term, some of history’s top strategists actually say that inflation is a big reason to buy stocks – not to avoid them. Foremost among them is Warren Buffett. His inflation research goes way back. In 1977 – just before the U.S. was about to enter into one of the worst inflationary climates in history – in a column for Fortune magazine he said, “stocks are probably still the best of all the poor alternatives in an era of inflation – at least they are if you buy in at appropriate prices.” Words: 664
What is surprising to me these days is how quickly investor mindset has shifted from the sheer uncontrolled fear they felt in October or November of 2008 or March of 2009. People seem to have completely forgotten how terrified they felt a few months ago. They have forgotten that they made impulsive decisions; that they made big decisions when they should have been making small ones; that, instead of making incremental adjustments to portfolios, instead of rebalancing at the margin, they bailed out of asset classes entirely or moved completely into cash. That’s very troubling to me and it suggests that we’re nowhere near out of the woods. It worries me so much I think we’re probably in for another big surprise before we have a full recovery. Words: 1489
When a fund brochure says: Diversified it really means: We will basically buy the index and go golfing – and 10 other interpretations of fund jargon. Words: 189
An investment advisor friend of mine recently asked me to summarize for him the criteria I would use if I were looking to identify an investment advisor to work with and I came up with 15 characteristics I would look for in what for me would be an ‘ideal investment advisor’ which I would like to share with you. Words: 679
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