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May 2004 performance review

The biggest hit to the portfolio was a 1.6% fall in Vanguard High Yield Corporate (VWEHX) as junk bonds took a beating in May. The fund is down to just 5% of the Conservative portfolio, so the total effect was muted.

The Economics of Oil

Suddenly oil is on everyone’s mind. It was inevitable – high oil prices always attract media and investor interest. Oil demand is up, supply is weak, fears are high, competition is low. Will high oil prices kill the economic goose that lays the golden stock market?

Ask MAX - Are Roth IRAs Too Good to be True?

Daria from North Carolina asks:

I can't seem to find a clear description of how the tax implications work with Roth IRAs. I understand that what I put into the ROTH is never taxed. Please correct me if I am not understanding that correctly.

My confusion is in the capital gains and distribution of dividends into the ROTH account. Are gains taxed? It would seem like too much of a plus for the investor if they (gains) were not taxed. I have been to several web sites to find a clear definition of the ROTH itself before I commit to opening an account."

Roth IRA's have only been around since 1997, when the Senate passed the Taxpayer Relief Act. The differences between a regular IRA and a Roth IRA are significant, and choosing the one that's right for you could have a big impact on how much money you end up with in your golden years. Please keep in mind when reading this that IRAs are a concept originated by the United States Government and hence are rife with ins, outs, and what-have-yous.

Are Roth IRA's too good to be true? Well, they are pretty terrific.

Are You Paying a Sales Load?

05/21/04 - Investing Tips

If you've know anything about MAXfunds, you know that we think load funds are bad and no-load funds are good. These days, however, determining if you are paying a sales commission when you buy into a mutual fund is more difficult then you may think. There is no boldface text on the application that says "This is a load fund". The load information is hidden in complex fee tables deep in a document most investors don't even glance at, the prospectus.

Mutual funds come in two basic forms: with built in sales commissions (loads) or without (no-loads). Determining which one you are buying can be confusing. Our own informal research has determined most people who own a load fund don't know they paid a sales commission.

April 2004 performance review

The SSgA Tuckerman Active REIT (SSREX) fund is no longer in this portfolio – we cashed out of funds that invest in REITs (real estate investment trusts) last summer. While we missed some upside in the fund, we also missed last months 15% fall. Given that stocks are more expensive then last year, if REITs fall another 15% or so we may add a small stake again.

Easy Does It

Each and every fund in each and every model portfolio can now be purchased on Scottrade’s no transaction fee (NTF) platform, which means that investors can buy and sell them without paying a fee of any kind. We synched our portfolios with Scottrade’s platform because Scottrade has the highest number of funds available for sale without transaction fees.

March 2004 performance review

Our recent spring cleaning seemed to help the Conservative portfolio. For the month it was up .29%, which may not sound like much, but given the stock market’s decline and our shorter duration bond holdings we’ll take it with a smile.

Two Weddings and a Funeral

Since few systems to predict the many ups and downs work consistently, the practical solution is to stay invested at all times. The only way to time the market is to spend as much time in the market as possible. 

The Worst Fund Advice Ever

We’ve been telling investors for years that they should never, ever buy a load fund, be it a front end, back end, or the intentionally deceptive level load funds. Loads are built in sales commissions primarily used to compensate brokers who sell funds to investors.

The gist of our anti-load argument is simple: there is no difference between load and no load funds other then the added sales commission. It’s like running a race with wet boots on – you’re at a disadvantage from the get-go.

But has our anti-load proselytizing been wrong all these years? If you had read a recent article in Investors Business Daily, you might think so.

Ask MAX: What's better: an index fund or an actively managed fund?

03/21/04 - Ask MAX

Blanche from Florida asks:

What's better: an index fund or an actively managed fund?

The rivalry that exists between active fund people and index fund people is a long and bitter one, and has been growing in intensity ever since Vanguard's John Bogle launched the first index fund, the Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX), back in 1976. Supporters of index funds think active fund owners are suckers who pay higher fees for worse performance. Active fund owners consider index fund owners over-diversified, risk-averse wimps.

I want to be very careful here, Blanche. Because of the highly controversial nature of your question and the potential for harm an incomplete answer could cause on one side or the other, I'm going make sure to respond to it as carefully and completely as I can.

An index fund is a mutual fund that tries to mimic, as closely as possible, the holdings of a particular index. Depending on the fund, the index tracked might be the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Wilshire 5000 Equity Index, the NASDAQ Composite Index, or any one of the scores of other indexes that have sprung up over the years.

An actively managed mutual fund doesn't follow an index. Active managers build their funds one company at a time, through painstaking research and analysis. The job of an active fund manager is to identify and buy the very best stocks that fit their fund's prospectus objective.

Both actively managed and index funds have aspects to them that are good, and aspects that are not so good. In our MAXadvisor Newsletter model portfolios we invest in both index and actively managed funds. Which one is 'better' depends on who it is that is buying the fund, what that person hopes to achieve with the money they place in the fund, and even the markets conditions that exist during the life of the investment.