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Monthly Archives: March 2009

Stocks on the Skids: Thoughts on AIG

March 10, 2009
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Stocks on the Skids: Thoughts on AIG

Last week, when the big East Coast storm dumped on us, travel was so difficult that some employees chose to stay home, leaving me to handle a few more phone calls than usual. One was from a reader named Willie, who said he needed some help deciding which of our investment advisory newsletters to subscribe to. He said, “My wife and I are both retired, so I have the time to do it. And the guys who were managing my account before did a horrible job. I just need to know how to get started.” Here’s what I told...

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Thoughts on Obama’s Healthcare Summit

March 9, 2009
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Our healthcare system is broken. Insurance costs, for both consumers and businesses, have risen inexorably. Doctors are frustrated at being paid less than they are worth. Millions of Americans are unable to afford basic insurance. And Americans are in terrible health, above all because of obesity and all its side effects. Yet previous attempts to fix the system have failed. So President Barack Obama, who is intent on using every bit of his political capital while he is still popular, is hunting for a less expensive system that will keep more of us healthy. I say, “Good luck,” sincerely...

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An Easy Way to Time the Stock Market

March 9, 2009
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I’ve been thinking more and more about the historic decline we’re living through, and I think this will become a litmus test for investment advisors and money managers in the years ahead. The most popular question will be, “How did you perform during the 2007-2009 bear market?” The advisors who fared poorly will likely struggle to get new clients or hold on to their current ones, and hence, may have trouble surviving. But the advisors that avoided most of the bear market and didn’t fall prey to the classic “you must remain fully I invested at all times!” mantra...

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Professional Money Management versus Do-It-Yourself

March 7, 2009
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I wanted to touch on a topic that many people asked about in our Cabot Wealth Advisory survey. The topic is professional money management, and the general question is, simply, is it worth it? I have a few opinions on the subject. The first is that, like every profession, there are some great money managers out there, but there are many more average and below average ones, too. I recently read there are more than 8,000 equity mutual funds in the U.S., not to mention thousands of hedge funds. I’m sorry, but I can’t believe there are that many...

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Want Safety? Try These Income Securities

March 6, 2009
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Want Safety? Try These Income Securities

One of things I like best about writing Cabot Wealth Advisories is that it allows me to get outside my comfort zone–all week long I’m working within the growth stock system we follow at Cabot.  But occasionally, like any investor, I also look for alternative investments that I can use to grow my wealth.  That, after all, is why we’re all here. Personally, I tend to be sort of a barbell investor.  On one hand, I tend to be very aggressive on the growth side of the equation, running a concentrated portfolio of strong leading stocks during bull markets,...

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