Massive Snow Storm
Not only is this the biggest March storm we've ever had it might end up being the largest snow storm for any month since we move here full time in 2002.As I write this Sunday around 6pm we had 22 inches two hours ago and it is still snowing.The first p...
The Big Picture for the Week of March 18, 2012
A reader left the following comment in reference to this post from January 13 of this year;I know this post is off topic, but I just can't resist pointing this out. Take a look at what you wrote about two months ago.Now take a look at what's been going...
The Proper Context of Low Beta ETFs
IndexUniverse had a post that explored some of the nuances of the PowerShares Low Volatility ETF (SPLV) and the PowerShares High Beta ETF (SPHB). The article was a little muddled in that it seemed to start out by making the argument for why now might ...
Seeing What We Want To See
On the Seeking Alpha version of my post the other day about how risky stocks are or are not a reader left a comment whereby he thought my post validated his preferred investment style. This was very interesting.For purposes of this short post it does n...
What Do The Stress Test Results Mean?
By now you know that the stress test results came out yesterday and that 15 of the 19 largest banks passed. The failed "banks" were Citigroup (C), Sun Trust (STI), Met Life (MET) and Ally Financial. I put banks in quotations because obviously Met Life ...
Just How Risky Are Stocks?
There was an article in the WSJ titled Stocks Are Riskier Than You Think. The article was very long and tried to make too many points but there was one particularly useful passage;If you're expecting stocks to outperform, say, 70% of the time, you need...
HELOCs to pay for gas?
A friend shared this picture on Facebook and I got a nice chuckle from it. Chances are everyone has made similar jokes about getting loans for certain day to day items but still it is pretty funny.It also reminds us that no matter how much planning we ...
Sunday Morning Coffee
A couple of items from Barron's to chew on.First is an article titled The Worst of Times to Buy Stocks? which features analysis from a couple of people including John Hussman. People who read Hussman at least occasionally will find his comments familia...
The Big Picture for the Week of March 11, 2012
A round up of a few things from the blog this week;A reader left a useful comment on the Seeking Alpha version of my post Working With Your Retirement Number. It was a lengthy comment that included four of his rules including this; 3. Do not focus on a...
Trying To Work With Your Retirement Number
Doug Carey had post at Seeking Alpha titled How Much Do You Really Need To Retire? The article crunches some numbers for a 40 year old couple with $200,000 already saved, assumes $5000 of annual savings but with no mention of salary or expected salary ...
A Diamond ETF On The Way?
Index Universe reported that IndexIQ has a physically backed diamond ETF in the works. Three years ago I had a light post asking why there was no diamond ETF. This idea intellectually appealing on some level. For men I think it might appeal the same wa...
