For the year 2000 we have seen hundreds of mutual funds lose 40%, 50% and more of their value. This does not seem right since the fund is supposed to be managed by a professional. How can this "professional" do such a bad job? More than half of the funds this year will not out perform the S&P500 index which closed down about 10%. What is going on? When you put your money in a mutual fund you are supposed to be hiring someone who knows how to make money. He should be able to do a better job than you....

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The Bollinger Band theory is designed to depict the volatility of a stock. It is quite simple, being composed of a simple moving average, and its upper and lower "bands" that are 2 standard deviations away. Standard deviations are a statistical tool used to contain the majority of movement or "deviation" around an average value. Bear in mind that when you use the Bollinger Band theory, it only works as a gauge or guide, and should be use with other indicators. So how do we use the Bollinger Band theory?...

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Mutual funds by definition are a mixed bag of stocks, bonds and a little cash. Their price per share is the NAV, Net Asset Value of the total amount of money in the mutual fund divided by the number of shares. They seek to be fully invested at all times. The fund manager determines which stocks and bonds to buy and sell in order to give the greatest return to his shareholders. He is considered to be an expert in choosing stocks for appreciation of value and should be expected to give a better than average return....

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Most advisors will tell you they can beat the market. They may even point to years in which they did. But now you will learn the little known fact that is seldom mentioned outside the financial world. It is very, very, VERY DIFFICULT TO BEAT THE MARKET. The market in the United States, for the most, part is efficient. In fact the stock market is so hard to beat that most of the professionals do not do it. The only thing an investor should be looking at from an investment point if he/she uses a discount broker is the risk side....

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In 1960 an engineer working for a watch company in Switzerland discovered that a small crystal would vibrate at a constant rate. He found this was so accurate that it could be used to calibrate time so he took it to company management and said it would make an entirely new kind of watch that had no springs and no gears. They could not imagine who would want such a thing. Swiss watches dominated world commerce. "Why change?", they said. The bosses did not even bother to patent it. The inventor took his new idea to a commercial trade show, set up his booth and tried to interest manufacturers to produce his new kind of watch....

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You probably have been told that options are risky. Even worse, that you can lose your shirt trading them! Well, what is the truth? Let's take a look at stock ownership. What can happen if you buy stock? The price can go up. The price can go down. The price can go sideways. In the first case, you can make money. In the second you lose money. And in the third case you don't directly win or lose but in fact it costs you money in two ways. The direct cost of brokerage and fees. And the indirect cost known as opportunity cost....

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According to Investopedia Inc. the penny stock market has seen phenomenal growth this past decade. From '94 to '03, the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board trading volume increased an astounding 8900%, equaling a total of 63% of the NASDAQ and 78& of the NYSE share volumes. Many an investor has succumbed to their siren song. It isn't hard to see why. Penny stocks are usually traded in lots of 1,000 and, as the name suggests, are bought (and sold) at incredibly low prices. There is no official price cut-off, and differences of opinion range from shares trading under $1....

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When it comes to buying a stock or mutual fund most people act pretty quickly. There are some who will take the time to get a report from Morningstar (it is worthless) or get reports from their broker (also worthless) or even do a search on the Internet (if you know what you are doing). When your broker says "buy" you buy and when a friend gives you a "tip" you buy. Any fool can buy. It is the wise man who knows how to sell. One of the old masters of the market Bernard Baruch used to say, "...

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When purchasing mutual funds we are cautionedto read the prospectus, look at pastperformance, check out the fund manager's recordand see what their expense ratios have been. We are also told that we should not buy fundswith expenses exceeding 1% to 1.5%. When you askthe fund salesman (don't forget he's a salesman)he will assure you that the fund expenses arewhatever is shown in the prospectus. He istelling you the truth, but not the whole truth, according the Securities and Exchangeregulations. In many cases he has left out a bigchuck of expenses....

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During our travel down life's path we come to many places where the trail divides and we must make a decision. Some involve psychological (emotional) choices - marriage, divorce, leaving home, career changes, etc. Others are monetary - buying a new car, home, starting your own business, investing, etc. Many are interwoven having aspects of both psychological and monetary. The marriage decision means you have decided to live and share everything with a partner and also support that partner in every way including financial....

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The demand for world oil is increasing while world reserves are decreasing. This is a known fact. The current price of oil can certainly confirm this statement. Consensus also agrees that we will never see $25.00 oil again. The logical conclusion to our above statement is oil stocks should be a good long term investment. However, the location of the oil companies' reserves can affect their bottom line and valuation. With demand for oil and other commodities from China and India increasing due to their growing economies, strong trading relationships are procuring with Canada - a country with numerous resources, political stability and neutral military views....

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