SKARBECK: How Switzerland bank wreaked currency havoc
Financial markets were rocked on Jan. 15 when the Swiss National Bank surprised the world by removing its three-year cap on the Swiss franc/euro exchange rate.
Investing Column
Articles
KIM: Enjoy our low oil prices; here’s why they tumbled
At a basic, Economics 101 level, an imbalance has developed between supply and demand.
SKARBECK: Who could have predicted last year’s mighty market?
It is doubtful that any analyst predicted the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury bond would fall dramatically from 3.03 percent to 2.17 percent.
KIM: Resolve to get comfortable with uncertainty in 2015
if you can get comfortable with uncertainty; adopt a long-term perspective; and follow a disciplined, patient and unemotional investment approach, you’ll be miles ahead of most investors.
SKARBECK: Market’s run stirs up index-investing debate
The ongoing debate between “active” portfolio management and “passive” management is again a hot topic as 2014 comes to a close.
KIM: Internet sensation enables investments in classrooms
DonorsChoose enables public schoolteachers to post classroom project requests and donors to pick the projects they want to support.
SKARBECK: Main Street is finally enjoying fruits of recovery
While recent years have been a boon to upper-income groups, evidenced by sales of luxury goods and rising stock prices, the economy now seems poised to provide a boost to the broader population.
Kim: Let state help shoulder the high cost of college
This holiday season, skip buying the got-to-have whatever and consider establishing or making a gift to a young person’s 529 plan account. Not only is it a gift that will last a lifetime, but if you’re an Indiana resident, the state will pick up 20 percent of the cost.
Skarbeck: Stock market investors fare well in the long run
Steadfast investors are seeing new highs as the market indexes are now some 20 percent above the high reached in 2007 before the credit crisis.
Kim: Distributions can sting mutual fund investors
U.S. mutual funds are required to “distribute” realized capital gains and income to shareholders at least annually, making this a tricky time of year for investors to buy shares in taxable accounts.
Skarbeck: Wave of corporate spinoffs may lift shareholder wealth
Companies with two or more distinct businesses operating under their umbrella will sometimes conclude that spinning off a subsidiary into a separate company is beneficial to all stakeholders.
Kim: Active stock managers face stiff headwinds in 2014
While the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index reached record highs on the last day of October, most active stock managers have struggled in 2014. One of the primary difficulties has been the wide divergence in performance between the largest-capitalization and smaller-capitalization stocks.
Skarbeck: Investment industry sees rise of the machines
The latest trend enabled by computers is “robo-advisers.” These computer-driven financial advisers are springing up to offer low-cost, automated portfolio management.
Kim: Tune out the media hysteria and stick to investing plan
I’ve written a number of columns with advice for when the talking heads are screaming about the coming apocalypse, so I thought it might be useful to review some of those concepts.
Skarbeck: 401(k) lawsuits help fuel fiduciary-duty debate
Chalk this up as one for “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” The employees of some well-known financial firms have sued their employers for placing their own company’s proprietary mutual funds in their 401(k) plans.
Skarbeck: Hedge fund track records fail to live up to the hype
California Public Employees’ Retirement System is dumping its entire hedge fund program. The reason, according to Ted Eliopoulos, the chief investment officer, is “their complexity, cost and lack of ability to scale to CalPERS size.“
Skarbeck: A new type of index fund is gaining investor interest
Recently, financial academics, like Rob Arnott of Research Affiliates, have published white papers supporting a different type of index investing. They call their creation “smart beta.
KIM: Worlds of sports, finance continue to collide
Instead of assembling a pretend roster for your fantasy football league, how would you like to actually own a piece of Andrew Luck or your favorite player?
Skarbeck: Risk measure stokes debate over merits of index funds
While the goal of many investors is to “beat the market,” it is a well-known fact that most investors (including professionals), underperform the market over the long run. Hence, the argument to buy index funds. Investors who invest in index funds accept the aggregate ups and downs (volatility) of the broad stock market.
Kim: With colleges, higher cost doesn’t mean greater value
A college education is one of life’s costliest investments, so you want to maximize your return on that investment.