Editor’s Note: While this article is from 1989, and some of the mutual fund names have changed or the funds have merged or closed, the concepts of risk assessment still apply. Often, it is all too tempting to evaluate a mutual fund solely based on its rate of return over some period of time. Typically,…
Risk is a fundamental concept in any investment program. Beta and standard deviation are two common risk measures. But many investors prefer to view risk differently, at least mathematically. Others do not understand how a complex formula for deriving individual betas and standard deviations can be used practically in a real investment program. This workshop…
This week’s AAII Weekly Digest highlights these “must-read” AAII articles: Allocating to Manage Risk: A Case Study A follow up to analysis AAII published 20 years ago of a fictional couple’s exposure to downside risk that looked to see what would happen to the couple’s portfolio should financial markets suffer a severe drop. More…
This week’s AAII Weekly Digest highlights these “must-read” AAII articles: Model Shadow Stock Portfolio: Handling Major Financial Statement Revisions Major revisions to financial statements have been rare among Shadow Stocks; their mere occurrence is not reason alone for a stock’s removal. Jim Cloonan offers his latest quarterly review of the AAII Model Shadow Stock…
Selling is arguably the most difficult aspect of investing in individual stocks. Many of us spend a good amount of time researching possible stock investments before pulling the trigger. Often, however, very little thought is put into when it is time to sell. Do you sell if the price appreciates by a certain amount? Do…
Most of us take some type of risk every day. However, risk is very subjective. When it comes to investment risk, many factors come into play as to how much we are willing to accept. Age, current financial situation, etc., all play a role as to how much risk we are willing to accept when…
Risk plays a pivotal role in investing, yet a universal definition is elusive. Merriam-Webster defines risk as: the possibility of loss or injury someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard the chance of loss or the perils to the subject matter of an insurance contract; also the degree of probability of such loss…
This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of the AAII Journal. There is a large body of research showing that investors depend on emotions and anecdotal information when making decisions. You are no doubt aware of this and are familiar with the resulting cognitive investment errors. There have been numerous articles dealing with how investors can…
This week’s AAII Weekly Features highlight these valuable AAII articles: AAII Stock Screens 2015 Review: Small-Cap Wins During a Large-Cap Year: In a year dominated by large-cap stocks, a small-cap approach broke through to lead the pack. Revised Guidance on Following the Model Shadow Stock Portfolio: Changes have been made to the average daily dollar volume requirement…
