In Alan Greenspan’s most famous market commentary, he merely hinted at the possibility of irrational investor exuberance. The ensuing far more irrationally exuberant behavior in the stock market was surprisingly ignored by Greenspan, at least publically. His second most famous market commentary centered on the 2005 bond market. Greenspan testified before Congress that the flat yield curve with low long-term interest rates around the globe was a "conundrum".  ...read the rest of this article»

Since late 2002, investments have gone up, up and away. Stocks, oil, metals, real estate, art, collectibles, classic cars – you name it. Every investment carries a higher price tag than it did then. In the last five years, it's been difficult to lose money. Everything has gone up. Or has it? ...read the rest of this article»

August certainly didn’t seem like a month that would end better than it began. The S&P 500 was up just over 1% - not exactly a barnburner, but given the turmoil in July and early August, nothing short of a miracle - and certainly the result of some sort of divine intervention. That divine intervention involved no less a deity than the Chairman of the Federal Reserve himself, who in mid-August reversed what appeared to be a true stock market death spiral ...read the rest of this article»

We can’t say we’re particularly upset about the recent drop. At the end of June we cut back on our stock allocations, increased our longer-term investment grade bond stakes, and even added some funds that short stocks. In fact, we’d like to see some more weakness in the market so we can go on a mini-buying spree.  ...read the rest of this article»

You probably already know that we did a bit of trading at the end of June. The giant red trade alerts on every model portfolio page (and our recent email alerts) were probably a dead giveaway. In fact, that set of transactions represented one of our most comprehensive block trades ever. ...read the rest of this article»

We use several strategies to add value to your portfolio. We select high-quality funds in areas that are currently out of favor, we increase stock allocations when stocks fall out of favor, and we cut back on stocks when they return to popularity. This article addresses the last strategy. ...read the rest of this article»

While it’s not quite the bubble-era Promised Land of “Dow 36,000,” the recent Dow 13,000 milestone is quite exciting, nonetheless. Any day now, it looks as though the S&P 500 (a better market benchmark that more closely mimics how most investors have fared) will break the record high it set over seven years ago.  ...read the rest of this article»

Last year, we wrote on MAXfunds.com, “Now that home price appreciation is leveling off, the ugly side from the growth of no-and low-money-down lending should rear its head.” The main concern in the stock market today is just how far the current sub-prime loan fallout will spread into the economy. Our opinion? Pretty darn far. ...read the rest of this article»

It has been quite some time since the Dow dropped over 500 points in just a few hours. The last time it happened, the biggest terrorist attack in our nation’s history was the culprit. This time, we had only the vague notion that the Chinese government is concerned enough about stock market speculation and their economy, to rattle our stock markets. ...read the rest of this article»

One of the big stories in mutual funds last year was the end to the famous  Bill Miller’s streak. In 2006 Legg Mason Value Trust (LMVTX) – the flagship fund managed by Miller – scored an unimpressive 5.9% return, missing the S&P 500 by a country mile (10%) and ended Miller’s impressive, unmatched, 15 calendar year streak of beating the most-benchmarked of indices.  ...read the rest of this article»