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Mutual Funds »
New Horizons: Introducing Exchange-Traded Bond Funds
Bond ETFs offer benefits similar to those of stock ETFs, such as low cost, diversification, the ability to trade shares throughout the day, and the ability to short a portfolio.
January 2003 | Journal
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Mutual Funds »
Diversification: How to Get Broad Exposure Overseas
Overseas markets have become better places to invest as foreign economies move toward a U.S.-style model. In addition, the recently expanded coverage provided by the MSCI EAFE index is good news for foreign index fund investors.
August 2002 | Journal
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Mutual Funds »
Fund Investors' Biggest Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
Fund investors are not immune to mistakes, and fund managers can compound mistakes made by fund owners. One of the biggest mistakes is overconfidence, and the stock market is highly efffective at deflating overblown egos.
May 2002 | Journal
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Features »
What to Look for in a Closed-End Municipal Bond Fund
Mutual Funds: A closed-end fund's stock price can rise above or fall below its net asset value, depending upon supply and demand. While bond fund markdowns don't get as deep as those on equity funds, you can still find opportunities.
January 2002 | Journal
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Features »
International Investing: It Still Makes Sense to Diversify
Mutual Funds: Correlations among the world's major markets often converge during brief U.S. market shocks. The heavy selling typically produces a worldwide domino effect during severe global traumas.
October 2001 | Journal
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Features »
Sizing Up Mutual Fund Relatives: Low-Cost Alternative Investing
Mutual Funds: ETFs, closed-end funds, HOLDRS, and folios require greater investment sophistication, but may offer unique advantages for savvy investors. Costs, investment control and tax efficiency play a major role in evaluating the alternatives.
July 2001 | Journal
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Features »
An Investor's Guide to Analyzing Exchange-Traded Funds
Mutual Funds: Tradable funds require greater investor sophistication than ordinary mutual funds because they trade like a stock. The stock dimension may also ignite latent speculative tendencies that might otherwise lie dormant.
May 2001 | Journal
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Features »
Keeping Costs Low: Intelligent Indexing With Bonds
Mutual Funds: Indexing makes sense for bonds: Ultra-low costs are crucial with bonds, and there's less opportunity for managers to add value with bonds than stocks.
January 2001 | Journal
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Features »
A Look at HOLDRS: Stock Bundles Offering Unique Characteristics
Mutual Funds: Currently, most HOLDRS represent an individual's undivided beneficial ownership in a basket of 20 of the largest, most liquid companies in an industry. Unlike mutual funds, you have more control because you actually own each stock.
October 2000 | Journal
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Features »
Exchange-Traded Funds: A New Twist on Index Investing
Mutual Funds: Exchange-traded funds work like index funds yet trade throughout the day like stocks. They are also more economical to operate than traditional index funds.
July 2000 | Journal
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Features »
What You Need to Know About Closed-End Taxable Bond Funds
Mutual Funds: Closed-end bond funds have a stock dimension in addition to their income attributes--their stock prices fluctuate with changes in sentiment. Astute investors profit from this while collecting income.
May 2000 | Journal
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Features »
What You Need to Know About Investing in Closed-End Funds
Mutual Funds: Because of their quirks, closed-end funds turn off many individuals, but they also offer many opportunities for disciplined investors who understand what they are buying.
January 2000 | Journal
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Features »
Loan-Participation Funds: Broadening Your Bond Portfolio
Mutual Funds: These closed-end funds package participations in senior, secured floating-rate bank loans, and as ultra-short-term bond portfolios, they have virtually no interest-rate risk.
October 1999 | Journal
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Features »
Using Index Funds as a Part of Your Asset Allocation Strategy
Mutual Funds: Consistency of style, low costs, the assurance of besting most active managers, and tax efficiency are compelling reasons to give index funds a high priority in your asset allocation strategy.
July 1999 | Journal
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Features »
The Index Fund Advantage: Low-Cost Passive Investing
Mutual Funds: Index funds are a plain-vanilla investment that offer disciplined individuals rock-bottom costs, tax efficiency, style consistency, and a chance to beat the majority of actively managed funds over the long haul.
May 1999 | Journal
