Most major indexes were up almost exactly as much as the S&P 500; the Nasdaq delivered a 6.9% uptick and the smaller cap Russell 2000 gained 6.87%. Foreign stocks got a double boost from a falling US dollar and rebound in stocks, some from a sharper drop on the way down  (best illustrated by our new Vanguard European ETF, which climbed 14.18% for the month). ...read the rest of this article»

Once again we’re seeing interest rates decline as the reality of a slow economy and low demand for borrowing trumps fears of government-fueled inflation. Junk bonds performed surprisingly well. Normally, if there is such a thing as  “normally” in investing, the boost high yield bonds prices get from lower interest rates during a sliding stock market would be overridden by growing economic fears and expectations for higher defaults in the future on high yield bonds. This is largely why junk bonds did so badly in 2008.  ...read the rest of this article»

May was the first truly bad month for stocks and higher-risk bonds since the great comeback that started a little over a year ago. The only fund categories that were up, besides funds that short, were municipal bond funds and federal government bond funds. Funny how whenever there is a global panic of any size investors pile into what is supposedly the root of all evil in the economy, fiscally irresponsible governments. ...read the rest of this article»

Europe is falling out of favor with investors fast, as if it’s finally dawning on the world that all this money going overseas to avoid America’s dismal future may have invested in an even worse one. The US dollar wasn’t going to fall forever, and European economies were no better than America’s, with all the things investors supposedly hate about America and then some: high unemployment, expensive government spending programs, debts, etc. ...read the rest of this article»

Stocks are heating up. February’s roughly 3% return was doubled in March with a 6% increase in the S&P 500. Tech stocks logged in another market-beating month as the Nasdaq rose 7.14%, eclipsed by even hotter small-cap stocks which took the Russell 2000 up 8.14%. It’s as if everybody started getting sick of low yields on cash and CDs all at once. Most stock fund categories performed close to the S&P 500 in March. ...read the rest of this article»

In February the S&P 500 rebounded 3.09%, erasing most of January’s decline and leaving the index down 0.61% for the year (though still up some 53% for the last twelve months – a period starting at about the bottom of the market during the financial panic). Our average model portfolio is essentially flat, down 0.05% for these first two months of 2010. ...read the rest of this article»

Just about everything that went up faster in the comeback slipped harder in January. The Nasdaq slid 5.37% (though small caps were down 3.68%) more in line with the larger caps in the S&P500. Interest rates dipped down with long term treasuries returning about 2.5% for the month. Surprisingly, high-yield junk bonds were up for the month, bucking the overall trend of the meek doing better in January. ...read the rest of this article»

Normally when the S&P 500 goes pretty much straight up in a short period of time, as it has since the early March lows, we would expect to underperform because our portfolios tend to have some bonds or cash weighting them down, a performance gap we tend to makeup during the next downturn or as our out-of-favor funds start to beat the market.  ...read the rest of this article»

The S&P 500 rose just under 6% in November -- enough to bring us to a 25% gain for the year (though the market is still down by 16% over the last three years). The Dow had an even bigger month, scoring a near 7% return. The Nasdaq posted a 4.87% gain. In general larger-cap stocks beat smaller caps, with the Russell 2000 small cap index delivering a ho-hum-by-comparison 3.14% advance. Interest rates crept back down delivering a 1.68% return for long-term bond holders, though the one-year performance is only 1.4% ...read the rest of this article»

Well it couldn’t keep going straight up…After seven months in a row of gains (save for a basically flat June), the S&P 500 took a breather and slipped 1.87% in October. As it turns out, our buys in March were well timed. Too bad we cashed out a little too early on some of the fastest gainers in this rebound. ...read the rest of this article»