SEC Chairman Chris Cox called on the mutual fund industry to join him in the "war on complexity." Cox discussed the difficulties that investors have in comparing mutual funds using the SEC's Edgar Database. He also called for more disclosures about 401(k) fees and performance, saying that "We will continue to purge all the legalese and convert it to plain English. But getting rid of the gobbledygook is no easy task. But we want to give every investor the info to achieve sound investment decisions."

I'm highly skeptical about the odds of mutual funds making it easier for investors to compare expenses and performance because, if they did, most people wouldn't buy most mutual funds. If people had a solid understanding of mutual funds and the factors impacting their performance, pretty much everyone would buy the lowest cost index fund they could find. Needless to say, that wouldn't be good news for most investment management companies.

However, instead of complex disclosures and spreadsheets that 99% of individual investors really don't care about, I have a plan. Every mailing/advertisement/prospectus discussing a mutual fund should be required to contain a red piece of paper with the following:

DEAR INVESTOR:

Most likely, the mutual fund that is soliciting your business brags about its track record and its management team's expertise. As an investor, there's something you need to know: None of that matters.

Past performance, Ivy League credentials, and colorful promotional literature have very little impact on a fund's future performance. Here's what matters: The expense ratio. By keeping your costs as low as possible, you will beat more than 80% of actively managed funds.

Investment legends including Warren Buffett, John Bogle, and Burton Malkiel (to say nothing of Ben Stein and Suze Orman) have all said that most investors should stick with passively managed, low-cost index mutual funds. If the fund being advertised here does not fit that description, we strongly advise you to toss the mailing into your recycling bin.

Best of luck in your pursuit of wealth.

Your Friends at the Securities and Exchange Commission

McDonald's Corp (NYSE: MCD) will be reporting on its fiscal first quarter earnings next Friday the 20. The stock has had a pretty nice run over the last year with shares climbing over 35% since last July. Will this impressive run continue after next week?

If past performance is any indication, there is a strong possibility that McDonald's won't let the market down. It has a great history of meeting or surpassing analyst estimates. The last time that the company was unable to meet estimates was back on January 28, 2005 when it missed by just a penny.

This time around analysts are expecting to see McDonald's report $0.62 per share when it announces its first quarter numbers before the market opens next Friday. For the first quarter last year, the company matched its estimates when it reported $0.49 per share.

There hasn't been a whole lot of news surrounding the fast food giant lately, other than troubles it has run into in China. After being accused of underpaying its employees in the country, China officially cleared the company of any wrongdoing. While it is good news to hear, if you read the fine print of the news release you see that the only reason that the company was cleared is because China does not legally protect the working conditions of working students.

Last week McDonald's announced that it will give unions a bigger presence in its Chinese restaurants, so we can expect to hear a little more on this subject during the conference call next week.