The mayhem in the media industry continues. The Wall Street Journal, a News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS) property, is closing its Boston bureau and sending nine employees into the wind. The newswire and MarketWatch operations are going to stay open in Boston, however, with no headcount impact.

The Journal doesn't have any plans to close other offices, according to a memo by managing editor Robert Thomson: "there are no plans, nascent or otherwise, to close any other U.S. or international bureau." The WSJ will still support an "investigative function" in Boston, but the New York-based Money and Investing team will cover Boston's mutual fund industry, which boasts such heavy hitters as Fidelity.

At the same time, magazine company Time Inc., owned by Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is looking to cut $100 million in expenses, and layoffs will undoubtedly figure into the equation. The company that owns Time, Fortune, People and Sports Illustrated - and falls under the same umbrella as AOL, which owns BloggingStocks - is feeling the squeeze of a media recession that's even worse than the regular recession we've all been battling for what feels like decades.

Continue reading Time and WSJ to lay off more

Time and WSJ to lay off more originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've watched stock market numbers bounce around for two years. Unemployment stats have served as unpleasant reminders that, for some, leading indicators haven't translated to reality. We look for so many ways to understand the brutal economic environment with which we've had to contend, and all the choices can make your head spin. So, let's make it simple. Here are eight ways to tack a label onto the financial world in which we live.

1. Lost market value
Total stock market losses from October 2007's top to March 2009's bottom: $11.2 trillion
Total gains in the stock market since the bottom: $4.6 trillion
Lost ground: $6.6 trillion

2. Bad days
Percentage of the 10 worst days in history for the Dow Jones Industrial Average that happened in 2008, by point drops: 60%
Percentage of the 10 worst days in history for the DJIA that happened in 2008, by percentage drops: 30%

3. Mutual funds
Value of mutual fund assets at the end of 2007: $6.5 trillion
... and a year later: $3.7 million
Lost value: $2.8 trillion

But, it got a little better at the end of August 2009: $4.5 trillion (value of assets)

Continue reading Eight ways to define the recession

Eight ways to define the recession originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: What to do with $25,000

Serious Money: What to do with $25,000 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With President Obama at the helm it seems as though the light might be shining on the economic horizon. If you're of this opinion then now might be a good time to invest some of your hard earned savings in the banking industry.

But what banking firm do you decide to go with? Rather than selecting just one bank, how about hedging your bets by investing in many diverse banks from all over the country? An exchange traded fund (ETF) is a great way to do just that. By investing in the ETF PowerShares Dynamic Banking (PJB) you get shares of several different banks. PJB seeks to replicate the Dynamic Banking Intellidex index and invests at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise that index. Among their holdings in the PJB ETF are BancFirst Corporation(NASDAQ GS: BANF) BancFirst's holding company, Capital Federal Financial(NASDAQ GS: CFFN) the holding company for Capitol Federal Savings Bank, and Northern Trust Corporation(NASDAQ GS: NTRS) Northern Trust Company's holding company.

Continue reading ETF Portfolios: Is it time to invest in banks? Then buy PJB.

ETF Portfolios: Is it time to invest in banks? Then buy PJB. originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Our favorite US stock market fund is Vanguard Dividend Growth (VDIGX); in 2008, it lost less than just about any other large-cap fund," says Mark Salzinger in his The No-Load Fund Investor.

"In 2008, Vanguard Dividend Growth lost 25.6%, vs. 37.1% for the S&P500 Index. Over the longer term, manager Donald Kilbride has proven his mettle with good stock picks and nimble application of his strategy.

"He looks for stocks with histories of rising dividend payouts along with the wherewithal and intention to continue increasing dividends into the future. Plus, he likes to buy these stocks when they appear relatively inexpensive.

Continue reading Vanguard Dividend (VDIGX): Top pick for US large caps

Vanguard Dividend (VDIGX): Top pick for US large caps originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Go Green with Low Cost ETF Funds: EVX

Go Green with Low Cost ETF Funds: EVX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the past few weeks you probably saw signs in retail stores touting "big sales" with discounts of 50% to 70& off. It seems that Wall Street has caught on to main street's way of doing business - discounts, discounts, discounts!

The Renaissance Technologies LLC, a large hedge fund, has waived all of its management fees for 2009. Originally it charged a 1% fixed management fee, but with the new policy it will take a $30 million dollar haircut. However, the other larger Simon's Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund will not cut its management fee in 2009. Other funds are using similar practices. The Citadel Investment Group LLC gave back about $300 million dollars in fees it collected in 2008.

Renaissance, like many other hedge funds, suffered losses in 2008 ranging from 12% to 16% but managed to beat the S & P losses by 4-6%.

Mutual funds and hedge funds are using these unorthodox practices to try and keep their customers and prevent further redemptions by their existing clients. Just like you shop at retail stores for discounts, it might be a good idea to shop around for any deals that your mutual fund or hedge fund are offering but only from top rated funds. It would not be good business sense to take a discount from a fund that has a bad track record just for the sake of getting a discount. Just keep this simple rule in mind: 'in the end you are responsible for your investment decisions" so this year take the time to do your own research rather than relying solely on third party advice.Get as much information as possible but keep in mind that you must decide what is best for you in your circumstances.

Would you invest in a mutual fund or a hedge fund this year?

Give backs and free management from some hedge funds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mutual funds lost $320 billion to redemptions last year. It was, by most measures, a "flight to safety." Equity funds, in particular, were hit hard by the falling stock market.

According to the FT, "The data include both retail and institutional investors. The total outflow of $320bn does not include money market funds."

The flight out is fine, but what about the flight in? Some analysts see 2009 as a "rebound" year, especially if government stimulus packages work. If that is true, stocks could begin to move up sharply as the Obama and TARP plans start to bear fruit, perhaps as early as the second quarter.

Other researchers believe that stocks are cheap. The P/E ratio for the S&P 500 is at a multiyear low. It would not take much of an earnings recovery to push that up.

Investors may have saved themselves from having their investments down 30% instead of 40% by moving money into Treasuries. But, the Dow has been up as much as 30% in strong years. Those who stay on the sideline risk a chance to get their money back.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

As mutual funds face record withdrawals, where is the upside? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There is an old adage. Watch the last hour of trading and you will get a sense of where the market is headed. Over the past year volume in the last hour of trading has increased from 20.7% to 26.2% The final half hour of trading saw an increase from 12% to 17.1%. A study by Credit Suisse shows that half of the big swings in the last hour drove stocks down even lower. On three days in September more that half of the drop occurred after 3 p.m.

The obvious question is what is causing this heavy volume? Now comes the birth of ETFs (electronically traded funds). They offer leverage and fast action and have become the darling of hedge funds and fast trading pros who piggyback ETF traders. Another theory is that the large sell-offs were due to selling by hedge funds and mutual funds to cover redemptions. Just this past Friday 32 million shares of Ultra Short Financial Proshares changed hands. That was up from 8 million shares in the first three months of 2008.

One other factor that is making this trading go to the wild side is the introduction of 2X and 3X ETFs. This has the effect of doubling and tripling your bet. For example if you invest $100 in a short 3X ETFand the market goes down 10%, you now have $130. But keep in mind that this same leverage can go against you just as quickly. During the past week, the markets have calmed down a bit and the last hour volatility also is less intense.

High stock market volatity in the last hour of trading - why? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that XShares will close 15 of its 19 HealthShares ETFs, redesign the remaining four, and launch a few new HealthShares ETFs sometime in the fourth quarter.

XShares will, of course, bill this as a strategic shift but closing 15 of 19 funds is hardly an indicator of success and the HealthShares funds were pretty hyped up. More than a year ago, MarketWatch columnist Chuck Jaffe trashed the funds, calling them his "Stupid Investment of the Week."

The HealthShares ETFs failed to catch on with investors, and that's probably good: with expense ratios that were quite high for ETFs, and holdings that were very limited and gimmicky (An ETF that invests only in companies in the field of dermatology? Michael Jackson is out of money: Short it!), this isn't exactly a surprising failure.

For most investors, I don't think ETFs are the new paradigm that they've been made out to be: the ability to trade them like stocks on major exchanges may lead many to over-trade and, while a diabetes ETF might seem cool, most people would be better off just buying a total market index fund.

ETF shakeout contiues: XShares closes 15 health ETFs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barber and Odean obtained trading data from a discount brokerage for over 35,000 households and analyzed investing patterns for six years to test whether overconfidence leads to more trading and lower returns. Since in areas of finance psychologists have proven that men tend to be more prone to overconfidence, the genders were separated so that their trading habits could be studied individually.

Continue reading Why women make better investors than men

Why women make better investors than men originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"We've added two bond fund's to our buy list: PIMCO Total Return (PTTDX) and Loomis Sayles Bond (LSBRX)," says Mark Salzinger.

The editor of The No-Load Fund Investor explains, "We favor both funds for many of the same reasons: both have experienced, top-flight management supported by robust credit-research staffs." Here's his review.

"Both bond funds have performed strongly over the long-term and during recent market turbulence. And each has a relatively open mandate that allows their respective management teams the flexibility to scoop up attractive bonds from diverse sectors of the bond market in pursuit of both capital appreciation and income.

"PIMCO Total Return is the world's biggest bond fund, and second large mutual fund of any stripe, with $128 billion in assets. The fund's popularity is a product of the outstanding track record and enormous reputation of its manager, Bill Gross. Its 10-year annualized return of 6% puts the fund in the top 5% of all intermediate-term bond funds over that time.

Continue reading Best bond fund bets: Core picks for income investors

Best bond fund bets: Core picks for income investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Top 5 ways to keep your financial advisor, stock broker or money manager honest

Top 5 ways to keep your financial advisor, stock broker or money manager honest originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bank of America settles SEC charges on mutual fund bias originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 02 May 2008 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

Mutual funds are great ways to invest. They offer professional management and risk diversification, especially if it's a general fund such as large cap growth and income. The diversification is less if it's specialized such as healthcare, but there is still lower risk because the fund buys many different stocks in a sector. Many investors believe they're at a higher level than fund investing, one where they pick individual stocks and make better returns than mutual funds. That may be true, but most likely not for every investment.

By that I mean there is no way you can invest in China with a diverse group of stocks and know much about each company. And even if you can get information on a company, it's usually at least six months old. Imagine how much changes anywhere in six months, much less in a volatile economy like China. The initial reaction might be that things are even better now. But not necessarily for your company. Or when things do change, as every economic cycle does, you may be the last to know that the bubble burst six months ago for the sector in which your company operates.

Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Everyone can use mutual funds

Comfort Zone Investing: Everyone can use mutual funds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Over the last quarter $100 billion has left equity funds. The FT says that data from Emerging Portfolio Fund Research shows that "investors pulled $70bn from US, Japan and Western Europe funds during the quarter." Some of that money went into funds which invest in emerging markets and a great deal of it went into safe money market funds.

The data means that many mutual fund companies will post bad first quarter figures, but the news is much more serious than that. Such a large amount leaving these funds means that stocks are being sold to provide the capital for redemptions. The process sets up a bad cycle. Stocks are sold to provide money to go into other assets. The sale of stocks continues to push equity indexes down. This leads to more withdrawals.

The only positive aspect to the news is that there is now hundreds of billions of dollars in money market funds, most of it very liquid. If the markets do begin to recover due to better news on earnings or a perceived end to problems in the financial sector, there is a great deal of "dry powder" to be put back in the market. That could further accelerate a market recovery.

But, if withdrawals from equity funds continues, that could be a long way off.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

$100 billion walks out of equity funds originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Well, these investors sitting on cash are not alone. Bloomberg reports this morning that mutual funds have been desperately selling stocks and moving to pretty sizable cash hordes. In a survey conducted by Merrill Lynch and reported by Bloomberg, managers have been feverishly adding to their cash positions and consequently, "cash relative to total assets also rose to a five-year high as managers found fewer stocks to purchase and anticipated redemptions."

This brings up a couple of issues. Let's be clear: mutual fund managers want to manage volatility like all investors. The problem here is that if I hand my money over to a small cap manager because I believe he's pretty proficient in picking stocks, I don't really want him moving into cash. That's my job as portfolio manager of my own investment account. I'm essentially paying him to be in the market -- not move out of it.

Continue reading Mutual funds pile into cash

Mutual funds pile into cash originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Whenever Wall Street starts packaging a product for the masses that's used by sophisticated investors, you know that there is big trouble ahead. There is no way that an individual investor will be able to value and understand the drivers of that investment's value. And it's fairly certain that Wall Street is packaging the security to enrich itself with fees. Wall Street doesn't have to concern itself with whether its investors make money.

This is the first thing that came to mind when I read a Bloomberg News story Barclays Plc (NYSE: BCS) introduced a new product that put a scare into Vanguard Group Inc. and the rest of the $13 trillion U.S. mutual-fund industry. The product? An exchange-traded note (ETN). I really don't know what it is but the story says that it allows individual investors to buy a type of forward contract linked to commodities and assets ranging from oil to currencies to foreign stock indexes. It has lower fees than mutual funds, is less regulated and, for now, lets holders defer taxable income indefinitely.

It sure sounds great and that's probably why the mutual fund industry is so afraid of it. But before you go out and buy one of those ETNs, make sure you understand how its value is set and what makes that value go up and down everyday. Otherwise you could be in for a rude awakening. Can't figure out how to value an ETN? Then I suggest you hold onto your wallet with two tightly clasped fists. When Wall Street comes calling on Main Street for such complex securities.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Are derivatives the next shoe to drop? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

SEC looks to simplify mutual fund disclosures originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There is no question that the recent explosion in ETF investing has changed the way we all invest. We all know the statistics, that it pays to buy and hold indices, be a passive investor and profit from "lazy portfolios." My hunch is that with the recent market bloodbath, we may see a move from ETFs back into actively managed accounts.

With most ETFs weighted toward their larger market-cap holdings, when a giant tumbles, look out below. Take the NASDAQ for example. Last year's gains in the index were almost all due to the staggering rise in Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). No stock moves in a straight line up forever. Investors in NASDAQ ETFs have gotten crushed so far in '08, as the high fliers are indeed coming back to earth.

With most ETF portfolios trading back at levels that we saw in the winter of '06, investors have made no money in the last 14 months. Actively managed accounts on the other hand have produced positive results. Like it or not, many investors are fair-weather friends and as soon as they realize that they could have made a lot more money investing in actively managed funds, they will move their money into these type of investments.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer has no position long or short in any stock mentioned as of 1/18/08.

Will investors sell ETFs and move to mananged accounts? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.