• Couldn’t agree more with Miranda on physical gold.  The slippage on entering and leaving physical gold is immense.
• Great article by our friend Fred on green savings strategies, for those rare occasions when your pocketbook and your conscience might align.
• Let’s give Poorer Than You a round of applause for netting four dollars and a Plutus Award!
• Online Investing AI discusses finance apps.   Relevant to me as I’m desperately trying to figure out what phone to get.
• Trend technician discusses the black swan in Greece and why I’d be far too scared to chase it.

Post from: Personal Finance And Investing

Wednesday Links — March 3, 2010

A Subscription to the Economist – I have had subscriptions before, but I can’t ever get through them in a week so pretty soon I have a pile in my entryway.  That being said it’s SO much cheaper to get a subscription and if you giftee is a frequent reader of the Economist it could be a very appreciated gift.

A copy of Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics – This is a great read for someone who is interested in economics.  While he occasionally dabbles in partisan politics, this book is much less “agenda driven” than many of his other books, particularly Economic Facts and Fallacies.

A Single Share of Stock Cerificate - Most of us trade almost completely electronically anymore and we almost never actually get to hold any physical symbol of our interests. You can get these from OneShare.com. Right now you can get $20 Off Complete Framed Stock: Use code HOLIDAY09.

Gold Coins – Much like the stock certificate, this gives us something physical to represent what we spend so much of our time doing.

Classic Books – Even if they’ve already read them, it can be nice to own a copy of something like one of Peter Lynch’s classics, or the Intelligent Investor.

Stress Relief – Get something to take the edge off during the trading day.  I like stress balls, but there are tons of options.

Report or Newsletter Subscriptions – If you’ve ever heard them mention a newletter or a research service they’d like a subscription for, this can be a great gift.  I’d never go out and buy one myself, but if I got one as a gift I’d use it.

Of course, in the end we know that we’re hard to shop for and will be happy with whatever you give us.  Especially if it’s not depreciating rapidly!

Post from: Personal Finance And Investing

Gifts for Investment Nerds

Photo by: Nicholas_T

While I generally advocate against investing in individual stocks for amateur investors, I make some exceptions for ETFs.  Exchange Traded Funds are funds that trade on the stock market like a regular stock, but represent underlying assets like a mutual fund.  These ETFs give you an opportunity to hedge your stock market positions and provide some balance to your portfolio fairly easily.  While I would still recommend a lot of research before buying any of these, each of these ETFs gives you some ability to round out your positions.

GLD: Gold

I’ve been known to make fun of “Gold Bugs” now and again in my days, but you have to admit that with the specter of inflation looming over all of the spending and stimulus, gold becomes a bit more appealing.  The mechanism for this ETF is supposed to be fairly straightforward, and it’s done a good job of duplicating the returns of gold recently.  Because most of the currencies out there are from governments who are in straits just as dire as the USA, it can be appealing to find a “currency” that no government has control over.

TIP:  Inflation Protected Treasuries

Inflation Protected Treasuries are another straightforward inflation hedge.  They are not subject to the same wild fluctuations as gold and can be more appealing for that reason.  At the same time, they are dependent on the government’s calculation of consumer price index (CPI), which may not always reflect real world inflation.  Unfortunately, added inflation-based principle will be taxed immediately, which is a consideration.

TLT: Long-Term Treasuries

Treasuries provide an alternative to stocks, but are not positively correlated with inflation like TIPs or gold.  They are, however, correlated with fear in the market, which has been a pervasive force.  When people aren’t sure what to do with their money many of them flee to treasuries, which has driven up the price recently.

USO: Oil

Oil provides an interesting mix of factors to help provide alternative forces in a portfolio.  The price is very volatile, which can be a considerable concern.  It should move with inflation to some degree and unlike gold actually has some utility.  It could be a good way to participate in any recovery without being entirely exposed to economic downturns.  While oil prices will diminish with the economy, that reduction will bring about reduced production; this will eventually help move the price up.  I would be particularly wary with this fund, however, as we could easily see plunging oil prices in the short term.

DBA: Agriculture

In the same vein as oil, tracking food prices can be a good way to participate in recovery while still participating in a fund that people will use even in a recession.  Much like oil consumption, people will still eat–regardless of how bad things get.  It’s also been seriously beaten up recently, much like oil.

I am not advocating any of these funds in particular, but they are all ways for you to add more dimensions to your portfolio.  This kind of diversity was sorely lacking in a lot of people’s 401(k) accounts when the crash hit last year.  While stocks were plummeting, several of these funds are at recent highs.  Never make any moves without serious research, but these stocks may help you have a more balanced portfolio.

Post from: Personal Finance And Investing

5 ETFs That Can Help Balance Your Portfolio