Alternatives Growing in Portfolios as Markets Stumble

Nontraditional investments could grow to 10%-15% of mutual funds in 10 years, according to Cerulli My Comment: For at least 18 months, I’ve been including a program featuring “alternative investments” in my client portfolios. The logic behind this is/was to build portfolios that are less likely to tumble when interest rates finally start an upward …

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Thought For The Week

“Save a little money each month, and at the end of the year, you’ll be surprised at how little you have.” Ernest Haskins Roughly four years ago, at this time, we began to feel the ground crumbling beneath our feet (metaphorically speaking) while we watched in amazement. The stock market lost over 1/3 of its …

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The Biggest Waste Of Time On Earth Is Wishing Things Were Different

This comes from the June 7, 2012 issue of Financial Advisor and was written by Don Connally. Nobody wants to hear bad news. Yet bad news sells. Why is that? Why are people so focused on what’s wrong in the world? The answer is that people are concerned with anything that threatens their sense of …

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Financial Advisors Lean Toward Alternative Investments

My Comments: Today, being Monday, is when my blog posts lean toward INVESTMENTS. And for the past three years, my advice as a financial advisor has been to include alternative investments in the portfolios I help manage for clients. Because, in this day and age, it works. Mindful that my professional objectives are to help …

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J.P. Morgan Weekly Market Recap – May 21, 2012

For those of you who pay attention and want to time the market, here’s this weeks best summary:

The Paradox of Being Prepared

My Comments: The author of this article has a blog about investments that is both entertaining and informative. As much as anything, he doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is a fault many of us have. It’s long, but a good one... by Jeffrey Dow Jones Turns out our newsletter last week on China was …

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ObamaCare Collapse Would Put Employers in Charge

My Comment: I don’t want to see ObamaCare struck down. Yes, there are elements that need to change, ideas and components that perhaps should not be there. But to throw out the whole idea because there are elements that have developed unintended consequences is foolish. There is a parallel here between an assertion that since …

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Hubris Drives Mistrust in U.S.- China Relations

My Comment: Unfortunately, I’m old enough to remember when Henry Kissinger was our Secretary of State. ( Or perhaps fortunately, since I read the obit column closely these days. ) In either case, he’ll go down in history as a major player in 20th century American history. The author below is referencing comments from Mr. …

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What Should the Government Cut?

My Comment: The headline in today’s Gainesville Sun was that Gov. Scott’s veto pen was not as severe toward the University of Florida as had been feared. Here in Alachua County, UF is the economic engine that drives all of us. But while everyone fears their ox being gored, if the revenues aren’t there, and …

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Eight Principles of Successful Optimists

Thomas A. Edison didn’t give up, and neither should you. My Comment: I've long had an argument with myself whether the glass was half full or whether it was half empty. I've concluded, more than once, that it's half full. My reinforcement of this state of mind often comes from something sent to me perhaps …

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