Target-Date Funds Aren’t That Safe
One of the main advantages of target-date funds, or lifecycle funds, is that the asset allocation of these funds is automatically adjusted as the target date approaches, going from aggressive (more stocks, less bonds) in the early stage to conservative (more bonds, less stocks). With target-date funds, investors leave the the job of adjusting and [...]
Morningstar’s New Chart Tool Is Impressive
Whenever I need data on mutual funds, whether it’s a fund’s expense ratio, risk measures, or return, I always go to morningstar.com. It has been my trust tool for fund research for year, not only for mutual funds, but for ETFs as well. Then yesterday when I went to Morningstar to get some data for [...]
Discount Broker Comparison
The best online discount brokers don’t necessarily offer the best value for investors. Before selecting an online brokerage, it’s better to know how much it will cost you to invest with it, even though cost isn’t the only concern.
When I look for a discount broker, one of the most important pieces of information I always [...]
IPOs on Deck: Rosetta Stone (RST) and Bridgepoint Education (BPI)
The U.S. IPO market is pretty much dried up. In 2008, a total of 43 companies went public, only 8 in the second half of the year, according to a report from Renaissance Capital, as the crisis in the financial market forced companies abandon plans to go public. So far in 2009, only 2 initial [...]
How Long Does It Take Your Broker to Answer Your Call?
I am sure you have called your broker on occasions when you had a problem with your account. Usually, how long did it take for your broker to answer your phone call? Were you be able to talk to a broker when you needed immediate assistance with your trades?
I have a few brokerage accounts and [...]
Vanguard Launched FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF
Mutual fund giant Vanguard Group launched a new exchanged-traded fund (ETF) last week. The Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US Small-Cap ETF (VSS), incepted on April 2, tracks the performance of the FTSE Global Small-Cap ex-US Index. According to FTSE, the Global Small-Cap ex-US Index is a freefloat-adjusted, market-capitalization-weighted index that covers more than 3,300 small-cap stocks [...]
US Dollar vs. Japanese Yen
The US dollar has been raising again the Japanese yen lately. Is there any trading opportunity in the USD -Yen pair?
INO recently released a short educational video, explaining the relationship between the dollar and the yen using MarketClub analysis tool. Will the dollar keep going up? Watch the video to find out.
Zecco Introduced New Services
I haven’t used Zecco for a long time, especially after they introduced the new pricing structure , which requires $25,000 account minimum or 25 trades every month in order to get 10 commission free trades per month, early this year. All my recent trades were done with Scottrade, using free trades I neared from the [...]
Treasury Extended Money Market Funds Guarantee
Last September, shortly after The Reserve Primary Fund broke the buck, the Treasury Department introduced a plan to provide temporary guarantee to money market mutual funds. The original plan was to use $50 billion from the Exchange Stabilization Fund to guarantee principal in money market mutual funds, which by design has the NAV of $1, [...]
2009 401(k) and IRA Contribution Limits
If you haven’t contributed to the limit in your individual retirement account for 2008 tax year yet, you still have 10 days to do so. As long as the contributions are made before the tax day on April 15th, they can still be considered as contributions for 2008.
In 2008, I contributed close to the maximum [...]
