U.S. edges toward recovery without help from housing
Analysts debate whether housing has yet hit bottom
Bernanke’s siren song for U.S. Treasury bonds
A good asset class to own because so much more is known about why they rise up and down in value
Money is pouring back into European bonds
Stocks with healthy balance sheets and strong market positions in other parts of the world also showing signs of life
Plenty to be optimistic about, just avoid the harbingers of gloom
Don’t take tips from late-to-the-party rating agencies, dithering eurocrats or fearful politicians
Recent cheery numbers mask U.S. economic woes
Money manager Rob Arnott sees eventual ‘3D hurricane’ of soaring debt and deficits and aging demographics
A requiem for European Union in need of intervention
Rush to reshape Europe could lead its destruction, warns Financial historian Niall Ferguson
Quantitative easing a necessary evil
The Tea Party crowd won’t like it, but best economic fix lies with a more activist Federal Reserve, economist argues
Former Wall Street trader prefers Namibia’s bonds to Italy’s
Small African nation has debt to GDP ratio of only 20 per cent, Jared Dillian points out
Take your stock valuations with a grain of salt
Buyer beware: Different valuation tools and outlooks offer widely divergent views of the recent uptick in the market.
Market Volatility Calculator
Portfolio growth - historical returns
Compare the growth of a diversified portfolio to stocks, bonds and cash using historical rates of return between 1935 and 2009. Returns can be adjusted for inflation and management expense ratios.
Stay invested
See the importance of staying invested in the market. Compare the investment performance of $10,000 fully invested versus the same investment that misses the best performing months of the stock market.
Diversification and bull markets
See how diversification would have affected the growth of portfolios during any complete bear/bull market cycle between 1968 and 2008. Compare the performance of a diversified portfolio to one made up of stocks only.
Diversification and bear markets
See how diversification would have protected your portfolio during any of the seven bear markets between 1968 and 2009. Compare the performance of a diversified portfolio to one made up of stocks only.
