Mutual Funds Blog

If the market this year has you concerned with all the talk about a possible recession, let's put it in perspective by taking a look at the Worst Market Crashes Ever.

The American Stock Exchange and Bear Sterns launched the first actively-managed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) today. The Bear Stearns Current Yield ETF will trade under the ticker of YYY (Amex: YYY). What do you think of introducing actively managed ETFs opposed to sticking to passive index-based ETFs?

Far too often investment writers incorrectly assume that their readers understand what a mutual fund is. Read this article as an absolute starting point for learning about mutual funds.

Ever wonder what the backgrounds are of the people who typically serve on a mutual fund board? Take a look at the typical Mutual Fund Board of Directors.

The recent pounding Bear Sterns (BSC) took and the bailout from J.P. Morgan (JPM) reminds me much of the banking problems that plagued Black Thursday, 1929. Thank goodness the rest of the market is showing better health than the banking industry - I'd hate to see a major market crash.

Touted as the biggest-ever domain name purchase, Fund.com is reported to have been purchased for $9,999,950 cash. Fund.com's new owner, Fund.com Inc., trades with the ticker FNDM.OB. Fidelity owns Funds.com.

SEC filings show That Fund.com Inc. (formerly Meade Technologies Inc) is a New York-based company that intends to operate an internet-based investment fund marketplace and online community at Fund.com. The site will cover various funds, including mutual funds, hedge funds, money market funds, exchange traded funds, closed-end funds, commodity funds and other types of pooled investment vehicles.

Sound familiar? Glad I have a 7-year head start on them. Looking through the filings and how they intend to make money, it will be interesting to see how much weight they place on editorial integrity.

According to data from the Spectrum Group, the number of new millionaires over the last year only grew 2%. In '06, the growth rate was 8% (11% in '05 and 21% in '04). With the current market, we might even flat line this year. However, it's still not that hard to become a millionaire.

For the first time, 5-Year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) are paying below 0%. Demand for TIPS have been high since late February as many investors expect inflation to be a problem over the coming years.

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, the man credited with cleaning up Wall Street while he was Attorney General - probably best known for uncovering the 2003 mutual fund scandals, finds himself under fire after his alleged involvement in a prostitution ring. He hasn't officially stepped down, but is certainly feeling the pressure to do so. Expect an announcement from him in the next day or two.

Read more here: New York Times, WSJ, International Herald Tribune, then come back and share your comments.

Did you make New Year's resolutions about your investing habits? Now that we're part way into March and you've probably finished or are getting close to finishing your taxes, it might be a good time to take stock on how you've been doing.

Take a look at my suggested investing resolutions.