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Help-My Investments S*ck-What Should I Do?

My Investments S*ck-What Should I Do?

2016 Investment Markets Don’t Look Good “The blue chips fell 276.09 points, or 1.6%, to 17148.94. The decline marked the worst first day of trading since 2008, and follows the first yearly fall for the Dow since 2008.” WSJ.com Okay, it’s 2 business days into 2016 and so far, the markets don’t look great. You’re thinking, “my investments s*ck”. On January 4th, the DOW dropped 1.6%, the S&P fell 1.5%, and the NASDAQ went down 2.1%. The next day, Tuesday, January 5th, 2016 the markets calmed dow…

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Why you should invest in index funds!

Why You Should Invest in Index Funds

Find out Why You Should Invest in Index Funds Guest author, James Pollard I’ll cut straight to the chase; you should strongly consider investing index funds. Let me explain. I’ll start off with two investing truths which underscore why you should invest in index funds. First, stocks have historically given investors the highest return when compared to bonds, money market funds, etc. Second, diversification reduces the risk and volatility of your portfolio. If you tend to have a weak stomach f…

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vanguard international etf vxus

How to Invest Internationally Guide

Today, in Part 2-International Stock Investing Guidelines; How Much of My portfolio Should I Invest Internationally?, you’ll get direction in determining how much of your portfolio to allocate to international investments. The last section will show you how to invest in the entire world with one fund.

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U.S. percent of international stock market

International Stock Investing Guidelines-Part 1

“What percentage of my stock investments, if any, should I allocate towards international stocks and emerging markets (the latter of which seems to have more volatility)?” asked Brian, of Luke 1428.com Brian asks an important investing question. There’s lots of discussion about the importance of diversification. All but the newest investors know about diversifying within your own country. And most of us understand that it’s important to diversify internationally. But how should you divide up …

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A Secret Investing Story-Find Out Who Wins the Investing Competition

An Investing Story With a Big Lesson

In investing, large gains and large losses go with the territory. Rarely do you know which investments will outperform and which ones will underperform. So, don’t judge your investing performance too frequently, either the good or the bad performers.

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#investing + #money reads-inspiration from Fincon15

Fall Investing + Money News to Inspire You

I just returned from Fincon 2015, a peer conference for the financial media community. Now, I’m totally inspired with too much to do on my plate. In conjunction with the exciting conference, I also co-launched Young and Oldish Money Podcast with my partner, Bobby Lee of 2 Minute Finance.com. If any of you have launched a new endeavor, then you understand; there’s the first part of content creation, in this case, recording many episodes of the podcast for publication. Next, and equally as chal…

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Can you predict stock market returns?

Market Forecasts-Can Strong Fundamentals Predict Stock Market Returns?

Do Strong Fundamentals Predict Stock Market Returns? With the recent stock market crash, you may be wondering how to predict stock market returns. Do you think it’s possible to predict stock market returns? Stocks can remain overvalued for a long time before a crash. For example, back in 1996 former Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan wrote about irrational exuberance driving stock prices up to unsustainable levels. He claimed the markets were overvalued and implied they could not keep u…

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SPY 25 year chart-what to do about a market drop? nothing

Why Is the Market Down? What to Do About a Market Drop

Learn What to Do About a Market Drop August 24, 2015 Friday was a wake-up call for investors who thought the markets only went up. It capped a week of pain and suffering across the major market indexes. In fact, this was the worst week for U.S. stocks in 4 years according to the August 22, 2015 Wall Street Journal headline article by E.S. Browning. With worries about China’s economy, Europe or specifically Greece still mired in debt, and lagging oil prices the markets are reacting. Here’s whe…

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Use net present value to decide between a lump sum payment or an annuity.

MBA Class; Use Net Present Value to Make Investment Decisions

I’m in the midst of teaching a Corporate Finance class for MBA students at a local university. Some of the concepts, although rather complicated, have important real world applicability. One of those uber-important concepts is, NET PRESENT VALUE (NPV). It is a method to put a dollar amount on future cash payments. It’s great if you win the lottery and want to determine whether to choose the lump sum payment or monthly option. Or what if you or your folks want to determine the present value of…

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