Fund Profile: Portfolio 21 - June 23, 2008
If gas prices weren't so darn high right now, we'd probably be right on track for a backlash against all things green.

Mutual Funds and 401 (k) Plans - June 16, 2008
Companies, looking to get out from under some of the most onerous of regulations under ERISA and other laws, have pushed the onus for making investment choices onto employees through 401(k) plans.

Fund Profile: The Prudent Bear Fund - June 09, 2008
The S&P 500 is down about 4% for the year to date, and it's been a struggle to cut the loss to that level. All the uncertainty about the economy, the war and the election is collected into the market price, and it's not pretty.

Fund Profile: Eastern European Equity Fund - June 02, 2008
India and China are undergoing profound economic changes right now, and investors want clues for what could happen.

Fund Profile: Thrivent Partner Small Cap Value A - May 26, 2008
There are plenty of religious mutual fund families out there, with investment styles designed to meet the strictures of different sets of observers.

Fund Profile: AllianceBernstein Global Bond A - May 19, 2008
Interest rates in the United States are low -- 10-year treasury notes are yielding about 3.75% and probably aren't even beating real inflation. (The good folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics aren't filling up their tanks at a gas station near me.)

Fund Profile: Fidelity Convertible Securities Fund - May 12, 2008
Convertible securities are the stealth weapon of corporate finance. They're sort of like debt, sort of like equity and have the power to do good or evil.

So When Do You Sell, Anyway? - May 05, 2008
Although the game is to buy low and sell high, it's really hard to know what's low and what's high because those numbers are relative. We're going through a rough market right now, and some people are selling out of panic.

Fund Profile: The Aston Optimum Mid-Cap Fund - April 28, 2008
Investment styles fall into two main categories, diversification and concentration. With diversification, investors try to reduce risk by owning a little bit of everything.

Fund Profile: The Gabelli Asset Fund AAA Class - April 21, 2008
Mario Gabelli is one of Wall Street's legendary money managers, with a long track record of finding profits for investors. The Gabelli Asset Fund is the flagship among several open-end and closed-end funds, founded during a big bull market and lasting through quite a few down cycles.

Money Funds: Breaking the Buck? - April 14, 2008
In normal times, the money market mutual fund is the least-interesting investment out there. Designed as a safe place to keep cash, the funds rarely return much more than the Treasury bill rate.

Fund Profile: Calamos Growth Fund - April 07, 2008
Recession or not, the market has to turn around at some point; so much doom and misery has been discounted into prices that stocks can't go much lower.

Fund Profile: Monetta Young Investor Fund - March 31, 2008
Bob Bacarella is on a mission. “I want to spark the interest of kids so that they start saving,” he says.

Fund Profile: The Vice Fund - March 24, 2008
Many investors pursue socially responsible strategies, looking to make money from businesses that also do well. Rarely, though, is it the best way to maximize profits.

Fund Profile: Lord Abbett Alpha Strategy A - March 17, 2008
The Lord Abbett Alpha Strategy Fund is a fund of funds, something you don’t see too often in the mutual fund world. Instead of a portfolio manager picking stocks, assets in this fund are divided among several different Lord Abbett small capitalization funds.

Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, and the Mutual Fund Investor - March 10, 2008
Last week, someone asked me what my favorite investment books were. I told him to read "One up on Wall Street," by Peter Lynch, and the letters of Warren Buffett, free on the Berkshire Hathaway, both men ended up in the news.

Fund Profile: DFA U.S. Small Cap Value I - March 03, 2008
The first casualties in weak stock markets are almost always the growth stocks, those that have optimistic projections built into a high stock price.

Fund Profile: Janus Fundamental Equity Fund - February 25, 2008
It’s like that old joke about the operation being a success even though the patient died — even five-star funds can perform badly in difficult markets. So far, 2008 has been a doozy, dragging down almost all U.S. equity mutual funds

Fund Profile: CGM Focus Fund - February 18, 2008
Ken Heebner is a legendary mutual fund manager. His built his reputation in the 1980s at Loomis Sayles & Company, which he left in 1990 to start his own money management firm. His CGM Focus Fund could keep that legend going a little longer.

Fund Profile: USAA GNMA Trust - February 11, 2008
Although the economy is obsessed with mortgage problems, only a few mortgages actually have problems.

Saving Money to Save the World: Donor-Advised Funds - February 04, 2008
For most individuals, investing is a way of putting money away now to spend in the future, whether it be for retirement, a down payment on a house or a college education.

Family Fund Profile: The Utopia Funds - January 28, 2008
Mutual fund companies aren’t usually thought of as start-up operations, but that didn’t stop Paul Sutherland. At the end of 2005, his investment management firm, Financial & Investment Management Group, launched the Utopia Funds.

I Read Academic Research So You Don't Have To: The Debate Over Tax Diversification - January 21, 2008
At this point, most investors can say it in their sleep: it’s imperative to use tax-deferred saving plans for the one-two punch of greater compound interest now, withdrawn at a lower tax bracket in your future retirement.

Hedge Funds Hiding in Mutual Funds - January 14, 2008
Hedge funds have been private investment partnerships for two reasons: some fund managers and investors liked the lack of scrutiny, and the SEC restricted the marketing of funds to people who were not considered to be accredited investors (meaning they have a net worth of $1 million or an annual income of $200,000.)

Fund Profile: Alger China--U.S. Growth Fund - January 07, 2008
With the conclusion of another mega-holiday season, it seems fitting to look at a China fund. After all, how would Americans celebrate if it weren’t for the Chinese?

Fund Profile: Henderson Global Technology Fund - December 31, 2007
The Henderson Global Technology Fund set up shop after the tech bubble had long burst and everyone else was home with a hangover. That doesn’t mean the fund hasn’t had a few bad years, but it’s now performing well given that technology is one of the strongest sectors of the U.S. economy.

Fund Profile: IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund - December 17, 2007
The dot-com era spawned all sorts of misconceptions about investing, one of which was that initial public offerings (IPOs) were sure-fire ways to make money.

I Read Academic Research So You Don't Have To: Technology Revolutions and Stock Prices - December 10, 2007
One of the advantages of mutual fund investing is automatic portfolio diversification, which insulates investors from the worst of the market extremes.

Fund Profile: Fidelity Select Natural Resources Portfolio - November 19, 2007
Nothing says “time to buy natural resources” like a weak dollar, inflation threats and war in the Middle East. It’s no surprise that the Fidelity Select Natural Resources Portfolio is beating the broad market indexes handily.  

Money Managers are Hot, Brokers are Not - November 12, 2007
In the past week, two of the world’s largest financial services firms, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER) and Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) have been hit with turmoil. The top executive at each has resigned amid concerns about exposure to subprime mortgages and their ability to manage huge financial conglomerates.

Fund Profile: T. Rowe Price Africa and Middle East - November 05, 2007
This is a new fund, so there's not a lot to say about its historical performance. That's okay, because investing is about the future--and the future in the Middle East and Africa is going to be interesting.

The Market for Mutual Fund Managers - October 29, 2007
When the U.S. stock market is a mess and the dollar is even worse, investors start looking to alternatives, and this fund combines two of them: investment-grade bonds and international currencies.

Fund Profile: Dreyfus International Bond Index Fund - October 22, 2007
When the U.S. stock market is a mess and the dollar is even worse, investors start looking to alternatives, and this fund combines two of them: investment-grade bonds and international currencies.

I Read Academic Research So You Don't Have To: What Matters About Fund Managers - October 15, 2007
Business schools are filled with folks who do research in order to gain tenure, pick up a Ph.D., or glean information about the world where they will be working. Often, they dip into the mutual fund data pool for ideas.

ETFs, Mutual Funds and Fee Questions - October 08, 2007
The cheapskate mutual fund investor looks carefully at fees to make sure they match the value received. Some investors, in search of the best possible bargain, look to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) because they have a reputation for being so cheap.

You Get What You Pay For--Right? - October 01, 2007
Every day, in every grocery store, Americans willingly spend more money than they have to on ketchup. The shoppers and their families believe that Heinz is superior to any other ketchup on the market and they gladly pay the premium.

How to Read a Mutual Fund Prospectus - September 21, 2007
Raise your hand if you read the fund prospectuses that your mutual fund companies send you in the mail!