A slew of bad press has been unable to knock Boeing Co. out of the skies, which is great news for the equity investment funds (including the Franklin Growth fund, our top mutual fund pick for 2011 which lists Boeing among its top 5 holdings). Some of the bad press facing Boeing these days includes [...]
In a recent write-up published at Morningstar, Dreyfus Chief Investment Officer, Phil Maisano outlined five key areas that investors should keep an eye on for 2011. Not only does Mr. Maisano’s piece compliment our recent post on Where to Invest in 2011, but it highlights some of the strength behind the company’s actively managed equity [...]
Okay, so it has only been a couple of days since the new year began. Equity mutual funds, for the most part, have fared well, particularly Large Cap Value funds that have remained in the green all day today (January 4, 2011). But a two-day approach is insufficient for most investors… even short-term investors. What [...]
Why Financial Planning? With so many terms and financial marketing out there, it is important to differentiate the concept of ‘Financial Planning’. Having a financial plan is much different than simply investing. Sound financial plans include the aspects of choosing investment vehicles, but also incorporate specific plans for depositing and withdrawing funds. This, frankly, is [...]
For 2011, our Top Mutual Fund Pick is the Franklin Growth Fund (FKGRX), a large cap, growth mutual fund that we originally reviewed in early August 2010. As one of our Top 40 Mutual Funds, this mutual fund’s heavy focus on domestic equities makes it an ideal recipient of our Top Pick Award. Several key [...]
Equity mutual funds have been something of taboo for the year. Through to November 30, 2010, domestic equity funds have let go of $43.5 Billion, according to the latest information released by Morningstar. And possibly for good reason. According to its close on January 4, 2010 and December 17th close, the S&P 500 has gained [...]
Taking cues from equity mutual funds is nothing new; independent investors have done this for years. And while it may seem like a tedious “read-between-the-lines” process reserved solely for straight equity investors, regular folks who invest in mutual funds should also take note of what some of the biggest and best funds around are doing… [...]
In our expository look at the holding similarities in top performing equity funds, we saw that a few funds actually shared some overlapping top security holdings as well as the obvious overlaps in sectors (remember, many funds hold Financial Services as a top holding with Industrial Materials being a favorite “second” or “third” top holding). [...]
Five days ago, Morningstar published its October monthly fund flows report. Those five days have allowed us to sit back and pat ourselves on the back while we mull over our shortlist of domestic equity funds that are competing for the most-coveted title of “Mutual Fund Site Top Mutual Fund Pick of 2011.” And then [...]
An interesting piece in the October 30, 2010 publication of the Economist the suggests that China may not be as big a deal as we are all making it out to be. The article, titled The Indispensable Economy? China May Not Matter Quite As Much As You Think, makes a strong case for not investing [...]
Large cap growth funds have become an interesting point of study for us. With retail investors pulling more money out of these mutual funds than they are with any other asset class out there, it is nothing short than perplexing why few people are not seeing the tremendous opportunities out there to dump money into [...]
Fairholme has taken steps to launch a new actively managed mutual fund, according to recent regulatory filings and this report at Morningstar. This will be Fairholme’s second fund launch this year after opening the doors to the Fairholme Income Fund (FOCIX), a bond fond that holds mostly good corporate debt and a whole bunch of [...]
Small cap mutual funds have had a great run so far in 2010, representing the best performing group of funds among non-specific funds (e.g. real estate, discretionary, etc.). Good returns attract attention, so it makes sense that investors should be a little more curious about small cap funds. But what distinguishes a good fund from [...]
Target Date Mutual Funds have recently taken on a lot of bad press. That terrible year, 2008, did not help; many people with 2010 target-dated funds saw big losses. Stories of postponed retirements, massive wealth loss, even broken financial dreams filled the press. We all read about them. And to be honest even we have [...]
Not too long ago, we suggested that the future of mutual funds would see a sharp increase in the demand for income funds. This demand will result in greater pressure for fund managers who will need to seek yields elsewhere since bond yields, as low as they have been and may remain in the near [...]
