Following Trends

Opportunities and Risks for 2011

by Henry Becker 01.19.2011
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2011 will have its opportunities and risks like any other year.  Instead of predictions which I find to be useless as there are far too many moving parts.  None-the-less it is a good exercise to take stock of where we are now and map a way forward along with plans for contingencies.   I find [...]

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Market update

by Henry Becker 03.08.2010
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If you follow the markets on CNBC or one of the many business media sources you may have heard of the VIX or Volatility Index.  The VIX measures how concerned options traders are that stock prices will drop.  The beauty of the VIX is in its contrary indications.  More or less you could view the [...]

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The Secret to the Best and Worst

by Henry Becker 06.16.2009
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In my last post, 2008: The Final nail for Buy and Hold, I referenced a common marketing piece that gets dragged out by the financial services industry when ever the stock markets get choppy.  The piece has many iterations over different periods of time and analyzes average annual performance of the S&P 500 if you [...]

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2008: The Final Nail For Buy & Hold

by Henry Becker 06.16.2009
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It did not take just one bad year [2008] to kill the buy and hold investment strategy.  The question is was it ever a viable option for managing money?  In the last ten years we have seen two 40% + drops in the stock market.  For a buy and hold investor, large market drops are [...]

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