One of the justified criticisms of modern finance is that it relies too heavily on the normal distribution curve – also known as the ‘bell curve.’ In fact, there’s a classic joke (that I think I’ve told here before) about the finance professional that has his head in the oven and feet in the freezer, but on average, feels fine. Critics argue that the normal distribution doesn’t capture the true… Read More
Interest rates are low and many investors are worried about rising rates, which can hurt bond prices. As always, Wall Street has rushed to the aid of investors by creating products to meet this need, just as they did with internet funds in the late 1990s and real estate funds during the bubble. One of the ‘solutions’ that Wall Street has created to meet investor demand is something called a… Read More
The first investment strategy that I can remember hearing about is the Dogs of the Dow strategy. One of my parent’s friends, who knew I was interested in stocks back in high school, told me one of the ‘secrets’ to beating the market. The strategy is fairly simply: start with the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and sort them by their dividend yield. Buy the 10… Read More
I am a little embarrassed to admit that there are so many rules about IRAs that I find it difficult to keep them straight and I have to refer back to a guide that I have and constantly have to ask other Acropolitans if I’ve got my facts straight. There are a lot of rules, even more exceptions and getting it wrong can be costly. A recent IRS ruling highlighted… Read More
