Jonas Zamora

A Nation of Savers: What Difference Would It Make?

Great article. I do hope we become a nation of savers and givers. I won't be crying for the banks or the mortgage lenders. We could use the money we make to save and invest in areas that will produce tangible improvements to society and our economy.

Cotton: A Better Way to Play Oil?

Alternative energy would seem to be a good play on oil prices. Shorting airlines might have been good if they hadn't come down already. Bought them when oil was too high last year. Otherwise, buy oil just like the previous commenters said.

Temporary Savings Rate Uptick or Long Term Shift?

For too many Americans, it about consumption and keeping up with the Joneses. We must get out of this mentality. You look at many with nice cars, big houses and believe they are doing well. In reality, they are awash in debt and slaves to their bankers. I hope the uptick in savings rates is not just reactionary. How can we do better?

1) If you can't afford it, don't buy it.
2) Cut up all our credit cards if we must.
3) Buy used cars with cash and work your way up to a nicer car in the future. Always pay cash.
4) Do not use debt as a tool. This is an overplayed theme especially those that sell systems and books on how to buy real estate.
5) Do not stretch yourself just to buy a house. Your payments should be less than 25% of your income.
6)Have an emergency fund separate from savings equal to 6-12 months worth of expenses.
7) Save, save, save!
8) Be generous
9) Pay off your debts starting with the smallest and working your way up to your highest balance. Use the Debt Snowball Method.

Bogle: Investors 'Getting Killed' in ETFs

Investors are losing in stocks, and index funds and "buy and hold". Not just in ETFs. One needs to make a distinction on what is causing the pain. Investor decisions or the financial instruments? Kind of like a hammer and nails. They are perfectly harmless until you hit your hand. Don't blame the tools when it is the people using the tools.

ETFs For Retirement

One way I recommend is to divide your money into different pools. Pool #1 would meet your current expenses and pool #2 for longer term investing(equties/hedg...

For example, if you have $1million, and need $50,000 a year income, put $50,000 in a money market for current year needs and $450,000 in laddered CDs, laddered fixed income. Every year there will be $50,000 plus interest available for 10 years. That is pool #1.

The 2nd pool would be $500,000 in actively managed equities(hedged when needed). You would allow this to grow over the next 10 years and use it to replenish your income portfolio.

Outside of this money, you may consider other types of risk management to manage emergencies like health care, unemployment, or disability.

Is this a perfect solution? Nothing is perfect, but it would give you better odds in not outliving your money and preserving capital in unforseen emergencies.

Bogle: Investors 'Getting Killed' in ETFs

Investors are getting in stocks, and index funds and "buy and hold". Not just in ETFs. One needs to make a distinction on what is causing the pain. Investor decisions or the financial instruments? Kind of like a hammer and nails. They are perfectly harmless until you hit your hand. Don't blame the tools when it is the people using the tools.

The Fourth Branch of the US Government

Would this make Goldman Sachs a good investment?

Three TARP Banks Already Classified as Deadbeats? Uh-Oh

Somehow, I doubt that the government looked carefully at every bank that got TARP money. Heck, a majority of the Democrats did not even read the budget proposal for the stimulus package and still approved it.

Are ETFs Too Easy to Sell?

It is self serving in that he wants to be right in his views. I serve clients in real life and the buy and hold mentality on Wall Street and firms like Vanguard only served to losse them money. They all make the argument that if you miss the best days in the market your returns would be poor. I would argue that if you missed the worst days you would be better off because you have a bigger base to compund returns.

If you have a $100,000 S & P 500 portfolio and were invested a year ago and you held on through the downturn and the lows, your investment would be down to down to $49, 850 at the 52week low on the index(see MSN Money). If you held on and have been riding this recovery fronm the lows your money would get up to about $68,658 at today's close. We are up over 37% from the lows yet this portfolio is no where near where it was a year ago. Tell me how buy and hold is effective for regular folks whose investment lifetimes are finite? No one ever talks about what happens when you miss a bulk of the downturn. Preserving capital is better because you have a bigger base for compunding. The above case has to have over 100% returns just to get back to breakeven.

The Debt Conundrum, Part 2

Great article. Larry Burkett wrote about this in the 80s and 90s that if we continue on the road to borrowing and consuming or borrowing to consume then we are headed for an economic earthquake. That of course has happened and am afraid the next wave will hit us considering that people consider credit cards as emergency funds as opposed to saving cash fior a rainy day. If we become a nation of savers, the country will be better off will be better off in the long run. Banks will be less profitable in this scenario and perhaps put the worst ones out of business, but that will more talented folks available to work in other industries.

Bearish on Equities? Big Mistake!

The V is still in the process of being a W.

Stress Testing Your Portfolio

No one can predict the future. Let's remmeber that financial planning and investment management is as much about art as science. Humans beings are inputing the assumptions on these models and stress tests. You would have to be all knowing to make them predictive and I don't know anybody on earth who is such.

Stress Testing Your Portfolio

I agree with Analyste de Boston. Trying to package 1% events in a software prigram is the same as putting together cookbook asset allocations for retail investors.

In the real world, you have to actively manage portfolios with discipline and thought. Portfoklios must be managed actively, not just asset allocated and rebalanced once in a while.

Why would I want a portfolio that is projected and built to return 7-8% a year and have a chance of losing 40%? Those are terrible reward/risk numbers. That's what asset allocation/rebalancing portfolios has become.

Buy the World’s Biggest Manufacturer and Services Provider – Just Not Yet...

It goes to show you that listening to propaganda blinds you to certain facts. The US is still a manufacturing powerhouse while mastering the high margin business of inventing new technologies, medicine, brands and so on. In the long run, thinking and executing on that thinking is what will help America continue to be a world and economic leadre.

Should You Follow the Herd By Shorting U.S. Treasury ETFs?

If you think this trade is crowded then look for a different way to capitalize on interest rates trending up long term. Much like shorting oil was the play at over $140, buying the airlines would have made you much more money. If you believe interest rates are going higher, find ways to leverage this play of the year.