Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, recently stated on Bloomberg TV, “I used to think being great at investing long-term was about genius. Genius is still good, but more and more I think it’s about doing something reasonable, that makes sense, and then sticking to it with incredible fortitude through the tough times.”  In…
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The year 2015 may or may not be remembered as the year that ended one of the longest U.S. stock bull markets in history, but for those of you holding individual stocks in your portfolio, it will probably bring to mind the thrashing that their prices have undergone. Volatility, of course, should be nothing new…
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For those of you who have not been following recent news about the Federal Reserve Bank (the Fed), Janet Yellin, Chair of the Board of Governors, announced some time ago that the Fed is likely to raise interest rates at its upcoming September 16th meeting. Historically the Fed has always been vague about discussing the…
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Having just lived through a couple of the most volatile stock market weeks we’ve seen in a long time, it’s natural for your thoughts to shift to capital preservation. From the 1980s through the dot com bust you could have allocated a portion of your investment portfolio to money market funds knowing that it would…
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The 531 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday August 21st was certainly headline-grabbing in its magnitude. It represented a one-day 3.1% drop in the index and resulted in a 10% correction from its high in May. It’s completely natural during such times for your stomach to turn over as you worry…
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You’ve probably heard or read that you should periodically rebalance your investment portfolio.  That means selling assets from asset classes that currently exceed your target allocation and buying more in asset classes that lag, in order to maintain your target allocation over time.  The presumed benefit is higher returns, reduced portfolio risk, or both.  Unfortunately,…
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