As we introduced in our last post, we’ve obtained the rights to share what we feel is an excellent series of articles: Evidence-Based Investment Insights. Here is the third in this seven-part series. In our last piece, “You, the Market and the Prices You Pay,” we explored how group intelligence governs relatively efficient markets in an imperfect world. Today, let’s look at how prices are set moving forward. This, too, helps...

As we introduced in our last post, we’ve obtained the rights to share what we feel is an excellent series of articles: Evidence-Based Investment Insights. Here is the second in this seven-part series.When it comes to investing (or anything in life worth doing well) it helps to know what you’re facing. In this case, that’s “the market.” How do you achieve every investor’s dream of buying low and selling high...

The Summer of Investment Insights One popular episode in the TV series Seinfeld was “The Summer of George,” in which George declares, “I’m going to read a book! From beginning to end. In that order.” As our own summer flies by, we’ve got some similar book-reading to do ourselves. We look forward to reporting our book-reading results to you in a future “What Sheri’s Been Reading” post. In the meantime, as...

We can’t help but love working with a fund manager that is not only intensely loyal to the science of capital markets, but can laugh about it too. These qualities are combined in Dimensional Fund Advisors’ 2013 Review, a market/economic summary that the firm releases each January. While “a lot happened” in 2013, Dimensional reports it was ultimately “a year about nothing.” In a way, it was like the reverse...

In our last two blog posts, we provided some of the key building blocks that make for a solid fixed-income foundation. First, we described the stabilizing role that fixed income typically plays in your portfolio. Next, we discussed why we advise against trading in reaction to current bond market conditions (including the existing climate) rather than according to your own investment goals. Today, we’re going to explore the strategy to...

In our last blog post, we shared the timeless principles we suggest for your fixed income investing. We also previously presented a Vanguard Funds report demonstrating that actively managed stock funds face punishing odds in their quest to outperform appropriate market benchmarks. But what about in the bond markets, especially in the current climate of potentially rising interest rates? Can active management shine? An additional report from Vanguard helps us...

Interest rates are at historic lows and, for several years now, numerous market pundits have been forecasting an upward move. This leaves many investors fretting about what might happen when rates rise. Some contemplate whether they should be making dramatic changes to their portfolios as a result. It reminds us of that Clash song: “Should I stay or should I go?” This blog post is dedicated to helping you understand...