Black Swan Management, LLC

Investments and Strategies for the Future of Business

Posts Tagged stocks

How to Maximize Your 401k Mutual Fund Returns

Jul 27

Posted by Ulli G. Niemann in stocks | No Comments

When it comes to 401k’s there is an overabundance of sad stories. Here is one that at least has a happy endingand it’s getting happier all the time.

Last year (in 2002) a friend of minelets call him Jackphoned and asked if I could help him with his 401k. Jack works for a large company as Senior VP of lending and is financially pretty astute. However, when it came to his 401k mutual fund decisions, he had repeatedly made the same mistake most people were making. As a result, he saw his account drop in value substantially.

At the time we were in the midst of the 2000 bear market, which showed no sign of letting up. Jack had purchased into a Lifestyle fund because someone recommended it. By the time he finally bailed out, it cost him dearly. However, he continued to make the same mistake by reinvesting.

He checked with the 401k representative and subsequently switched to a variety of mutual funds ranging from World Stock to Domestic Hybrids, Large and Small Value as well as Growth. But nothing worked and his portfolio value headed further south.

By the time we met to discuss his 401k Jack was pretty disgusted by the canned advice he had received and the continued losses he was sustaining.

Jack knew that I had pretty much eluded the bear market of 2000 by having sold all of my clients positions on 10/13/2000. We were safely in our money market accounts weathering out the storm (see my article How we eluded the bear in 2000 at http://www.successful-investment.com/articles12.htm.

Thinking about this, Jack could only shake his head because at no point in the market slide had he ever been given what I believe was the right advice. That is, no one suggested that, since we were in a bear market, he might want to step aside and remain in the safety of his money market account. So he stayed invested, hoping against the evidence all around him to find something that was not crashing. That was his mistake, and one shared by many.

The advice that he consistently and continually received was that the market was close to a bottom, stocks have to move up from these levels, and, my personal money losing favorite, the market cant go any lower. That’s what people wanted to hear and believe. But my tracking system said otherwise, and I followed its indicatorsmuch to the delight of my clients.

Jack wanted to know how I could help. Looking at his mutual fund choices I realized that they were actually pretty decent, and he had a variety of some 13 funds. So, what was the problem and how could we solve it? In a way, the answer was simple. But people were having to get pretty beat up before they would see it.

My first step was, with Jack’s permission, to log on to his 401k web site. Then I started making some adjustments. Since my trend tracking model was still in a Sell mode, I liquidated all of his positions and moved the proceeds into money market. This accomplished one thing right away: He stopped losing money. When you stop moving backward, in relation to everyone else you are moving forward!

Second, as my trend index moved into a Buy mode on April 29, 2003, I researched his funds again. Based on strong momentum figures, I invested in two of his mutual fund choices. The result was very gratifying: the funds I chose moved up around 10% in the two months after my Buy. (Other funds I had tracked and selected for other types of investment programs moved up as much as 26% in that period.)

Jacks been happy ever since. While the 10% appreciation is not as great as I was able to do with assets outside his 401k, it still confirms that the key to successful investing is methodology and discipline. Our disciplined approach relies on objective information. It disregards Wall Street hype designed to perpetuate commission-rich buy now while it’s low, or buy and hold strategies.

If you have been in a situation similar to Jack’s, or you want to avoid being in one, find an investment advisor who bases his decisions on a measured and objective approach. That will give you the edge no matter whether the market is going up or down and will give you the greatest protection from sad stories with your 401k.

by Ulli G. Niemann

Author: Ulli G. Niemann
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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The Right Mutual Funds For Baby Boomers

Jun 9

Posted by C.C. Collins in Uncategorized | No Comments

If you are a baby boomer, time is not on your side. Many baby boomers see retirement age fast approaching with little to nothing in the way of retirement assets that will allow them to actually retire and live a comfortable lifestyle.

With the benefit of time in short supply, substantial investment performance in a shorter than normal time frame becomes strikingly important.

Mutual Fund Advice

A case could be made that a special type of mututal fund, an index mutual fund, in conjunction with careful market trend analysis (not predictive market timing) could be used to achieve higher returns faster than a standard mutual fund.

As to the specific type of index fund to consider using, investors would
do well to “keep it simple” and use an index fund that tracks well known indexes like the S&P 500, Nasdaq100, and Wilshire 2000.

Index funds that track any of the major indexes are just taking advantage of the concept of diversification. The only remaining risk is whether the entire market goes up or goes down and one can switch to a fund that is designed to profit from a down market when such action is called for.

There are very few active investment managers that outperform index funds or exchange traded funds over a five year or greater period. This is why an index fund is recommended in the case of baby boomer-aged investors who need stellar performance over shorter time frames.

Mutual Fund Selection

Mutual Fund Action plan

Mutual Fund Research

Mutual Fund Investment tools

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Author: C.C. Collins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Race Horses and Mutual Funds

May 19

Posted by Al Thomas in business, mutual fund | No Comments

For years investors have been taught to look
into the composition of a mutual funds. In other
words the “experts” want you to take the time to
analyze the stocks within the mutual fund
portfolio, categorize them by industry group and
try to understand the objective of the fund
manager. This is nonsense.

When I go the track I look to see what the horse
has been doing for the last several races. I
don’t give a hoot what he had for breakfast. All
I want to know is has he been fast? Is there a
good chance he will finish in the money in the
next race? I only want to know how he has been
performing.

Most mutual fund managers, except those who
follow index funds, are always trading. You have
no idea that what is in the portfolio today was
there yesterday or will be tomorrow. Some fund
managers trade more than others, but you can
prove this to yourself by looking at the fund
prospectus at the beginning of the year and one
of the updates that funds publish quarterly.
Many of the stocks will still be there, however,
you don’t know if the percentage holdings are
the same.

By the way, don’t bother reading a mutual fund
prospectus. They are worthless when it comes to
making money. Consider that most of the
information in it is about a year old by the
time you read it. Think about this seriously for
a minute. Is there anything you can find out in
the document that will show up in your bottom
line? I’ll wait while you think. OK? There
really wasn’t anything was there? All
prospectuses are basically worthless.

But you say the SEC (Securities and Exchange
Commission) in Washington approved this. No,
they did NOT. They don’t approve of anything;
they just read it to be sure it meets the
regulatory requirements for disclosure. There is
almost no difference between the prospectus for
the worst mutual fund and the best mutual fund
and both of them may have been read by the same
Dilbert in his cubicle at the SEC.

There is one excellent way to find out which
fund to buy. It is based on performance. How
much has the fund increased in price during the
past 12 months? Just 12 months. Many financial
analysts want you to look at 3-year, 5-year and
10-year performance. Remember that horse? I
don’t care how many races he won 3 or 5 years
ago. Can he run NOW? There are many publications
and web sites that tell you the best performers.
Investor’s Business Daily prints a list of best
performing funds each day. You might have to see
the paper every day as they sometimes just tell
about the long-term performance. You want the
last 12 months and the last 3 months.

Three years ago you could have bought the best
performing fund on the street and today have a
dog. I call a dog any mutual fund that is not
outperforming the S&P500 index.

If you were a jockey you would want to ride the
fastest horses because in many races you get a
percentage of the purse. The same applies to
mutual funds. You must own only the best
performing funds at all times. Like the jockey
you must pick the fastest horse if you want to
be a winner.

You should review your fund holdings monthly to
see that you are only in the best funds. It
might take you an hour, but you will find that
you will double the current return on your
mutual fund investments. Do it!

Author: Al Thomas
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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What is a Mutual Fund?

Mar 10

Posted by Paul Cris in stocks, strategies | No Comments

Mutual fund is a corporate body, which works as an intermediary and invests in financial markets. Mutual funds collect money from the public and invest in financial instruments like equity, government securities, bonds, debentures etc.

Investing through mutual funds is good for people who do not have much knowledge about the financial markets. Instead of burning the fingers in the stock market, investing in mutual funds does make sense. There are various types of mutual funds available for investment. There are different types of mutual funds available, like, a fund, which invests only in Pharmaceutical companies, is called as Pharma fund and the mutual fund companies name the funds on their own. The mutual fund companies provide prospectus when they launch a fund. In the prospectus information like risk involved, amount of money invested in stocks, bonds etc are mentioned.

The money collected is invested by professionals who have experience in the financial markets. They know the time to buy and sell the stock. Their main aim is to create wealth for their investors. They diversify their portfolios and invest in growth related companies. Mutual fund companies hire professional fund managers who have very good experience in handling large amount of money. While buying a mutual fund you should check the experience of the fund manager and his team, who will be investing your money. You should also take a look at the past performance and the returns offered.

You can start buying mutual funds for a very low amount and you can also invest every month. This is called as systematic investment planning. There are various types of funds like open ended fund, close ended fund, growth fund, income fund, balanced fund etc.

Author: Paul Cris
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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7 Top Real Estate Investing Jobs

Jan 27

Posted by Steve Majors in real estate | 1 Comment

Real Estate investing has long been proven to make tons of
CA$H for the active investor and many of the real estate
investing methods and techniques used to make some of
the biggest (and quickest) CA$H only require a little time
and a bit of knowledge (i.e., NO MONEY and NO CREDIT!) to
rapidly bring home a really big check!

That is the appeal of Real Estate investing courses to most
people C to do deals that require little/no money or credit
yet pay back huge rewards for the time and knowledge you
get from following their systems.

Yet, the “investing” gets a bit lost in most of the world of
“Real Estate Investing” – there is no “investing” other than
a bit of time – there is no ROI (Return On Investment) other
than the time-for-money factor.

That is why I call these activities Real Estate Investing Jobs -
they stop bringing income as soon as you stop working
them.

Real Estate Investing through these jobs, while they make
you CA$H, will never give you financial freedom as they only
generate quick money and not long-term, passive income.

This article will look at some of the more popular methods of
Real Estate Investing jobs.

One of the biggest challenges to overcome is the fact that,
when discussing the money made through Real Estate
Investing, the numbers of dollars are much more than your
common corporate job, and many people simply are not
ready to handle such discussions.

You see, when you were very young, you were
programmed to think that $X was a large amount and often
this amount was only a few hundred, or perhaps, a few
thousand, dollars.

Yet, when discussing Real estate investing deals, there are
often multiple thousands of dollars at stake.

Most people simply are not used to discussing such
numbers, and wind up not making the money they could.
They simply have not learned the language of Real Estate
Investing.

One of the first lessons I teach my students is how to get
past the fear of discussing hundreds of thousands of dollars
and changing the programming you were given as a child to
form open ideas about money and investing to make even
more money.

One quick step you can do to begin this journey is to look
deep inside yourself and ask yourself how you feel about
money. Can you comfortably discuss figures in the hundreds
of thousands of dollars?

Most people learn quite quickly – with just a little bit of
practice.

With that in mind, it is time to look at these Real Estate
Investing Jobs more closely.

These ‘jobs’ bring you various levels of income, depending
on your area, so instead of discussing them in dollar values,
we will look at them from a percentage standpoint.

Of course, with these examples, the amount of work, time
and knowledge you put into it will certainly pay off more (or
less);

1. Property Profiling (birddogging) – this popular way to get
started in real estate investing provides a real estate
investing job with a decent income – something along the
lines of what a factory worker would make in the area.

2. Lease Purchase – this powerful tool can be utilized to buy
and sell property with no money out of your pocket (a Real
Estate Investing sandwich), while keeping a nice pocketful
of money for your time (can you tell this is one of my
favorites?) An active person can make about 1.5 – 3 times
more than the Property Profiler, on average.

3. Subject To – with a bit of training, you can make this
method of real estate investing really pay off big. Once you
know how to negotiate these deals, your real estate
investing income will reach that of corporate executives -
with much less of a time requirement.

4. Foreclosures – while highly lucrative and one of the top
income producing methods of real estate investing, the time
and knowledge required to actively pursue such deals is
becoming more difficult all the time.

The payoff to those that can perform these deals is huge -
about 10 times that of the Property Profilers, however,
finding deals is much more difficult due to the number of
people looking for them.

5. Tax Lien certificates – this is a true form of Real Estate
Investing – actually putting your money into something that
produces a return – one of the safest investments around
with returns that beat any other form of passive investing.
If you have money to invest, this is a great area to get into
with 15%+ return with almost no down side.

This is still a real estate investing ‘job’ as tax lien
certificates are short term, quick turn profit generators, not
sustained over time, plus they take skill and talent to make
the maximum profits.

6. Short Sales – this form of Real Estate Investing is another
job, as your knowledge level and timing are extremely
important. A lot of money can be made with this type of
Real Estate Investing job – as much or more than any other
form – once you know how.

7. Secondary notes/Purchasing Equity positions – a ‘higher
level’ of real estate investing, where more knowledge is
needed to limit the risk, however, the returns on equity
position purchases can be extremely high – from 6%-10%
for fully passive results and ‘sky’s the limit’ for purchasing
equity positions.

Yes, once you get past the internal false programming – the
LIES you have been taught all your life about money, you
can begin a successful career in Real Estate Investing -
through a variety of Real Estate Investing Jobs and then
onto true, full, watch-your-money-grow Real Estate
Investing.

Author: Steve Majors
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news

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Investing Basics – Stocks, Mutual Funds, Real Estate & Online Investing

Jan 1

Posted by Brian M. Gardner in investing | No Comments

Have you ever thought of investing? Do you have a family that you would like take care of? Does the idea of making money with stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real estate interest you?

Investing is essential to making money. Whether it be stock investing, investing online, real estate investing, finance investing, investing in bonds, investing in mutual funds. All are essential in helping secure your finances, and financial stability for you and your family. If you are interested in investing, continue reading about ways to make money. We will briefly discuss the concepts of investing with stocks and mutual funds, investing with real estate and investing online.

Stock & Mutual Fund Investing

The stock market is a great place to make money. If you intend on investing with stocks and mutual funds, we highly suggest that you first do research on the companies you wish to invest in. Although the stock market is a great place to make money, there is also a degree of risk involved.

Real Estate Investing

Investing in real estate is safer than the stock market. A lot of people purchase homes that need are in need of remodeling, and can make a lot of money by fixing them up and selling them. Be advised that it isn’t as simple as buying a house, painting it, and then selling it. There are a lot of factors that you should consider before you attempt to invest in real estate.

Online Investing

Another fast growing way to invest is through trading online. Traders have the capability of doing research, buying and selling and making money with their investments all with the simplicity of sitting in front of a computer. It’s amazing at how easily you can work your finances online, and make money without even leaving the house!

If you plan on investing, make sure you educate yourself in the market or means in which you wish to proceed. Whether it be investing with stocks, investing with mutual funds, investing with real estate or investing online, do your research and make some money! If you are looking for a resource to help you with investing, you can visit our website and you will find ample information about investments, and how to make money.

Brian M. Gardner is the Founder of Financial-Articles.com – An Online Money Making Resource. Learn how to make money and acquire wealth by investing in stocks and mutual funds, as well as how to be successful in sales, marketing and advertising.

Visit Brian’s website at [http://www.financial-articles.com]

Author: Brian M. Gardner
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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