Letters to the Editor

Comment Posted On-Line to “Bear Market Start May Offer a Strong Finish for Young Investors,” by Christine Fahlund, July 2009 AAII Journal.

While the author’s data analysis is correct, though based on only a small sample size (four samples is not statistically significant), the conclusion seems biased toward promoting equity investments in light of the current downturn.

An alternative conclusion: Long-term investment results measured at the end of a strong market (1958, 1999) are better than those measured at the end of a weak market (1979, 2008). This conclusion is reinforced by Figure 2, which reverses the sequence; the sequences ending with a bull market provide dramatically better returns.

Paul From Oregon

Comment Posted On-Line to “The Individual Investor’s Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds: 2009,” by Maria Crawford Scott and Cara Scatizzi, October 2009 AAII Journal.

The ETF Guide is a very helpful feature for me. My taxable and non-taxable portfolios began with primarily mutual fund investments. Now both taxable and non-taxable investments have gone increasingly to ETFs, as I have been able to locate institutions whose fee structures eliminate transaction costs. When transactions costs are gone, investing in ETFs becomes more like investing in mutual funds. I approach investing in mutual funds and ETFs from a longer-term perspective. This is so whether it is my own non-retirement money investments, my IRA (almost exclusively Roth) investments, or my employee retirement investments. John C. Bogle is one of my heroes.

John From Nebraska

Comment Posted On-Line to “Hot Links: Web Sites for Exchange-Traded Funds,” October 2009 AAII Journal.

My favorite resource for ETF information is the ETF Trends ETF Analyzer at www.etftrends.com/etf-tools/etf-analyzer/.

Thomas From New York