Bear market rally or the beginning of a new bull market? Who the heck knows, but there is good news out there. The S&P extended it’s rally and is now up about 17 percent since hitting 12-year-lows last week. Today’s market was fueled...

One of investors' greatest fears today is that the world is on the edge of an economic downturn that may be deeper and longer than anything experienced in modern times. Spurring this concern is a prolonged liquidity crisis that has affected...

High-yield bond investors suffered more than most in 2008, and this sell off may have created an investing opportunity today

Whenever investors proclaim the death of an investing strategy, it’s often a buy signal. During the first 11 months of the year, Bill Miller's Legg Mason Value (LMVTX) lost 58 percent, more than 20 percentage points behind the S&P 500...

Much of the confusion about what an absolute-return portfolio is arises from the rather cavalier way that some of these funds are labeled. Many funds are advertised as absolute-return plays simply because of their low correlations to market...

If only financial institutions could invest as smartly as they contributed to Congressional and presidential campaigns, why, there would be no economic crisis at all

These days everyone is suffering. The media has been all over the story of the credit bust, the drop in housing values, the stock market's dive since Labor Day, and how these events have wiped out the American Dream. Financial advisors and other...

The growing number of retirees, their increased life expectancies and the size of their savings led us to wonder: How much accumulated income-producing wealth is needed to maintain a desired lifestyle? In other words, given a target level of...

A lot can happen in a few years. Back in 2005, Morgan Stanley was at risk of losing its wealth management business during a very public conflict between then-CEO Philip Purcell and its shareholders. Today, Morgan is on the verge of creating the...