|
|
|
6 Reasons for investing in Florida Investment Property
6 REASONS for investing Florida Real Estate Investment Property NOW I invite you to take the next few minutes to learn the truth about the real estate market, how it compares to other methods of building assets and why it is such a lucrative form...
An Investing/Insurance Alternative
Segregated funds are the insurance company's answer to mutual funds. There are many differences and similarities but if you are putting together a financial plan that includes insurance and investments, you'll probably want to consider a...
How To Realistically Set Your Fees - Part 1
We all know there are 52 weeks in a year and 40 working hours in a week. Therefore, we can bill 2080 hours per year, right. Wrong. Too often this is the trap that many new service businesses fall into.
The first step in calculating your...
Investing as a sport?
I said last week that money doesn't generally buy happiness, but the lack of it can buy absolute misery. This, by the way, is not just my personal observation. It is the conclusion of some of the most respected happiness researchers (Yes, there is...
Investing for Beginners - I
How do we start to invest our money into the stock market? Understanding the several investing styles is the first step. Its difficult to get there unless we know where we're going.
Beginners?
What does a reasonably intelligent individual...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Offshore investing: spreading risk helps sleep
The world’s economies still dance to different tunes and have different boom and bust cycles that tend to offset each other, even though the differences are getting smaller. As a result, international stocks can provide diversification for a portfolio heavy in U.S. stocks.
Between June 1997 and October 1998, for example, Japan’s Nikkei index lost almost 40%, but European markets did well due to continental economic union. U.S.-style corporate restructurings also began to pay off. One region’s success balanced the other’s failure to get its financial house in order.
There has been less divergence between regions more recently. Even so, we suggest the prudent investor cannot afford to ignore overseas markets. They now represent some 44% of world market capitalization, up from 25% about 30 years ago. International stocks can provide solid diversification for a portfolio heavily invested in U.S. equities.
Exchange rates add an extra flavor to foreign investments. Fluctuations can add to or detract from profits or losses. Institutional investors and others pay significant attention to this factor. When the U.S. dollar was appreciating against the Japanese yen, billions of dollars flowed out of that country and into U.S. stocks and bonds, worsening the economic crisis in Japan. That money started to flow back out when the currency valuation began to reverse. Americans saw their investments in Japan appreciate then, even when the stocks remained in neutral.
Funds that invest overseas fall into four basic categories: world, international, emerging market and country specific. Diversification is the key to containing risk. And, yes, a good fund manager helps, too. Research is scarce and foreign companies, other than some in Canada, are difficult for individual investors to track on their own.
World funds are the most diverse of the four categories. They are, as the name suggests, able to invest anywhere in the world, including the U.S. As a result, they don’t offer as much diversification as a good international fund.
Some have 60% or more of their holdings in the U.S.
World funds tend to be the safest foreign stock investments, but only because they typically lean on better-known U.S. stocks. Just examine the portfolio carefully to make sure they don’t mimic your U.S. holdings. Funds invested in small- to medium-sized companies are unlikely to duplicate the foreign investment component of domestic funds.
Foreign funds, on the other hand, invest mostly outside the U.S. Whether they are relatively safe or risky depends on the countries in which they invest.
Advice: choose a fund with the best balance between countries and regions, or be very sure the manager has a good record of moving in and out of regions profitably.
Country-specific funds invest in a single country or region. This type of concentration makes them particularly volatile – especially those that invest in emerging markets. If you pick the right country at the right time, the returns can be substantial. Get it wrong and look for your head to be handed to you on a plate. These funds are for the most sophisticate investors only.
Emerging-markets funds are the most volatile, invested as they are in undeveloped regions subject to political upheaval, currency risk and corruption. These economies, such as Argentina’s in 2002, can collapse; governments can fall or be overthrown. On the other hand, these regions have enormous growth potential. Adding a small sprinkling of emerging markets exposure to your portfolio could serve to lessen downturns in U.S. markets – but they are for long-term investors only, those who can wait for fallen markets to recover.
As always, of course, the biggest risks carry the greatest potential for outstanding rewards; you simply require nerves of steel. The best course is to diversify well and sleep soundly at night.
About the Author
Written & published by Murray Priestley, Managing Partner of Portofino Asset Management, private investment managers and publishers of the Portofino Report. http://www.portofinoasset.com/
|
|
|
|
|
| Investing: Stock Quotes, Charts & Market News - MSN Money |
| Investing home page features investment tools like stock quotes, charts, a portfolio manager and much more. Plus market news and financial commentary from ... |
| moneycentral.msn.com |
|
| Investing : Stock Investing, Investing News |
| Our stock investing news is designed to help new and seasoned investors alike. See all of our investing news online at BusinessWeek.com. |
| www.businessweek.com |
|
| globeandmail.com : globeinvestor.com |
| GlobeInvestorGOLD Canada's most comprehensive investment tool. ... This Globe and Mail report will profile alternative investment products designed to help ... |
| www.globeinvestor.com |
|
| Fool.com: Investing, Stock Research, and Personal Finance |
| Investing information and an enjoyably useful site. Updated hourly. |
| www.fool.com |
|
| Investing, Stock Quotes and Research, Personal Finance and ... |
| Free comprehensive guide to investing and personal finance. |
| www.investorguide.com |
|
| Open Directory - Business: Investing |
| Business: Financial Services (17198); Business: Major Companies: Company Information (28); Recreation: Collecting (5684); Society: Issues: Fraud: Investment ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| Better Investing - We'll show you how! |
| The National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC) teaches individuals how to become successful strategic long-term investors. |
| www.betterinvesting.org |
|
| Dow Jones, Nasdaq, S&P 500, stock market data - CNNMoney.com |
| ... Real Estate Tips Main FSB 100 Small Cap Investing - Top 50 5 Best Bosses Which States Love Small Biz? ... Investing after Pfizer's flop - 3 strategies ... |
| money.cnn.com |
|
| Investing News, Personal Finance, Stock Market, Mutual Funds ... |
| Reuters.com is your source for investing news, personal finance, stock market, mutual funds and investments. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, ... |
| today.reuters.com |
|
| Investment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Investment or investing [1] is a term with several closely-related meanings in ... Types of financial investments include shares or other equity investment, ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Investing In Bonds |
| Information about bond investing from The Bond Market Association. Bond price information, articles, introductory guides, and links to related sites. |
| www.investinginbonds.com |
|
| Investing for Kids |
| Welcome to Investing For Kids. This Web site is designed by kids for kids. It examines stocks, bonds, ... It teaches the principles of saving and investing. ... |
| library.thinkquest.org |
|
| internet.com - the Internet and IT Network from Jupitermedia Corp. |
| The definitive internet resource. |
| www.internet.com |
|
| InvestorWords.com - Investing Glossary |
| The most comprehensive investing glossary on the web, with over 5000 definitions and 15000 links between related terms. |
| www.investorwords.com |
|
| Investing - Share prices | FTSE100 | Stock quotes | Stock exchange ... |
| Also on Investing:. December Fund of the Month: River and Mercantile UK Smaller Companies · Virtual Trader: play our £100k fantasy sharetrading game ... |
| money.uk.msn.com |
|
| JS Online: Business: Investments |
| Investing, Personal Finance. More investing stories from the Journal Sentinel ... Readers share investment advice, savings tips COLUMNIST HUMBERTO CRUZ ... |
| www.jsonline.com |
|
| Welcome to the Investing Online Resource Center! |
| Independent, non-commercial information on online investing. |
| www.investingonline.org |
|
| Investing for Your Future |
| Online course for beginner investors. Course and program description, registration, resources, feedback and contacts. |
| www.investing.rutgers.edu |
|
| investing | baltimoresun.com |
| Business, technology, real estate and investing news, primarily from The Baltimore Sun. |
| www.baltimoresun.com |
|
| Investing for Beginners |
| Investing for beginners gives new investors articles on the stock market,interviews with leading financial experts, discussion boards, a free weekly ... |
| beginnersinvest.about.com |
|
|