Dealing with Identity Theft
Identify theft is now the fastest growing crime in America. There were about 10 million cases in 2004. Since February 2005, major data handlers, including LexisNexis, ChoicePoint and CardSystems, have reported breaches that left the data of more than 50 million people at risk. Congress is beginning to stir, cracking down on the crime. In the meantime, you need to take some preventative measures.
What Should Investors Do Now?
Weston Wellington of Dimensional Fund Advisors (http://www.dfaus.com/) puts the current financial crisis into perspective with his six part series of videos, “What Should investors Do Now?” (http://www.dfaus.com/share/whatshou/). His use of historical materials and articles are both interesting and essential to understanding the psychology of investing.
Your Personal Economy
As I am sure you know – unless you have been hiding under a rock, have buried your head in the sand, or have simply placed your fingers in your ears and started saying “la-la-la-la” when the business news comes on – the US economy is in somewhat uncharted territory right now. News anchors and reporters, eager to drive ratings and sell commercials, sensationalize every drop of economic news, and relentlessly parade “expert” after “expert” across the screen with conflicting recommendations. With all this noise and confusion…
The Problem with Market Timing
It is not uncommon for “Buyer’s Remorse” to creep into an investor’s thinking during down markets. Wouldn’t it make sense to sell everything at the top of a market then fully invest when the market hits the bottom? We call this market timing and it is based upon the ability to predict future price movements. Much heat and energy is expended by the investment community with little consistency to show for the effort. Simple as it may seem, executing a consistent “buy low and sell high” strategy is elusive.