Image credit:Wikipedia Creative Commons By Jason Zweig and Tom McGinty | Dec. 6, 2012 10:06 a.m. ET The stock of Iridex Corp. , a maker of lasers used to treat visual ailments, had been hovering around $3.43 all day on June 29. At 3:55 p.m., five minutes before the market close, it took off. It moved to $3.65, then $3.80. Less than a half...
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Image Credit: George Frideric Handel, attr. Balthasar Denner, ca. 1726-1728, National Portrait Gallery By Jason Zweig | 10:14 am ET Dec. 3, 2012 This Christmas season, before we head off to any performances of the Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), Total Return wants to note that the great composer was a successful investor. In a...
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Image Credit: Christophe Vorlet By Jason Zweig | Nov. 9, 2012 5:39 p.m. ET Perhaps you can beat the market after all — by trying not to. In typical markets and a basic portfolio, rebalancing — or trimming your winners and adding to your losers — can add 0.25 to 0.5 percentage points to your annual return, estimates William...
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By Jason Zweig | Nov. 8, 2012 9:00 am ET Image credit: Warren Buffett, July 26, 2012, by “thetaxhaven,” Flickr.com This fall, two more books on Warren Buffett come out. The first, Tap Dancing to Work (Portfolio/Penguin), is a compilation of more than 80 articles about (and several by) Buffett. It’s edited by Carol Loomis, who has worked at...
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Image Credit: Christophe Vorlet By Jason Zweig | Nov. 2, 2012 11:48 p.m. ET Buy-and-hold is beating dodge-and-weave. After years of being mocked as “buy and hope,” the patient strategy of holding stocks and bonds is paying off again. By contrast, many “tactical” funds, which seek to smooth out short-term market swings through...
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