A mutual fund is defined as a group of investors who pool their money together, entrust a professional money manager to invest those funds in the stock market, bond market, or a combination of both spreading the risk and increasing your opportunity for diversified growth.
The BlueCollarDollar believes in mutual funds as an investment and retirement planning tool We believe that mutual funds best serve the BlueCollarDollar reader but only if the manager has withstood the test of time and has placed the investor first, keeps the cost of managing those funds low and does not charge (much) for your involvement.
Investing amid market turmoil may yield gains
by James L. Watt
Focusing on a long-term investing plan is difficult when the stock market is in decline. However, continued investing during turbulent times may offer long-term investors opportunities for Catholic, Protestant, and Islamic-based mutual funds with assets totaling around $17 billion.
Mutual fund expenses held steady in '07
By Sue Asci
April 14, 2008
The era of declining mutual fund expenses is over, and in fact, the cost of investing in a fund may soon be headed back up.
Can mutual fund managers pick stocks?
According to our
measures of skill, certain funds perform persistently better than others, and the best performers
tend to have a growth objective, large size, high turnover, and use incentive fees to motivate
managers.
Who's on Top of the International-Stock Fund Rankings?
For those tuning in late, I look at how the 10 largest managers of international funds performed, relative to peers, for the three years through February 2008 and through February 2005.
Top Performers
Picking the Forest or the Trees
THE ability to find top-performing industries is a crucial factor in determining mutual funds that are likely to perform best in the future.
How Well Do You Know... Funds and Taxes?
By WILLIAM POWER AND LESLIE SCISM
Tax time is here, a reminder for investors in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that knowing how tax issues work can make a difference in your returns.
Ouch, That Hurt and Experts Disagree on When Healing Will Begin
By Tomoeh Murakami Tse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Take shelter in large, stable companies? Forget about it. Flee to overseas stocks? Not a chance. How about the once red-hot Chinese market? That didn't work either.
Mutual funds lose ground in 1st quarter
By TIM PARADIS
With few exceptions, such as funds that focus on gold or those that bet stocks would fall, most investors saw steep declines in their fund holdings in the quarter.
Mutual Funds Abandon Stock Market as Volatility Jumps
By Eric Martin and Alexis Xydias
Forty-three percent of managers surveyed this month by Merrill Lynch & Co. moved more money into cash than their funds stipulated, the highest percentage since the New York-based firm began compiling the data in April 2001. Their cash relative to total assets also rose to a five-year high as managers found fewer stocks to purchase and anticipated redemptions.
When investing, look at the many meanings of 'risk'
ALAN SPEARS
Few terms in personal finance are as important or used as frequently as "risk." Here are a few of the many SEC: Answers To Frequently Asked Investor Questions Regarding The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.
Janus dodged a bullet, unloading a large stake of Bear Stearns in January - before the stock plunged - at prices ranging between $70 and $90 a share.
The Denver-based mutual fund company owned nearly 2.8 million shares of Bear Stearns worth about $244 million at the end of last year, making it one of the top 10 institutional shareholders, according to a document filed with securities regulators.
Visit Retiring with a Plan
Use this guide to help you determine when and how to sell your fund shares
Inside each of us, hidden away and waiting to be tapped, is a Financial Planner. All you need do is ask the right questions.
Many mutual fund companies don't mention soft money.
Who needs bonds? CDs are back and paying some healthy returns.
Our 2007 Outlook
. Is there a way you can benefit from herd mentality?
Are you looking for a mutual fund? Screen it here.
How to fix the mutual fund industry once and for all.
How will your survivors invest their inheritance?
At what point
do I hire out?
You are a mutual fund investor. So why should you worry about Hedge Funds?
More than one person has asked this question over the years. At what point
do I hire out?
Created in 1974 as a way to supplement company sponsored pension
plans, these plans have grown in size and popularity. Do you IRA?
Baby Boomers need is a new retirement strategy.
Is it a using the Stock Market game the best way to teach young investors?
Your fund manager will be worried about the Valuation of Your Mutual Fund
In other fund news that will be good for all investors concerned, the S.E.C. has made the practice of directed trading illegal.
How Mutual Fund Investors Lose
What is a
The hard close?
Soft money is back Let's take a look at this hidden and often needed cost of doing business in mutual funds.
Is the price you pay for a share of a mutual fund the best one.
The average investor now has the opportunity to speculate by purchasing Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs .
Investment News You Can Use
So the question is: if it is good for grocers is it an acceptable practice for mutual funds trying to reach customers in 401(k) plans?
The Mutual Fund Glossary
