hedge

When it comes to insurance, it’s all about reducing risks. The whole point of insurance is to help you hedge against the risk that unexpected events could financially devastate you — or at least cost you a great deal more than you would like to pay. If you have an auto insurance policy, you might [...]

Given recent economic news, more and more investors are turning to gold as a way to preserve the value of their financial portfolio. Gold has traditionally been considered a safe haven for investment, since it tends to maintain its value during times of economic crisis and upheaval. Gold is an especially good hedge against inflation [...]

Today, I’d like to share with everyone blogs that I read and think you should check out.  For each blog, I will provide details on what is great about it so that you can understand better which blogs might be best for you.  I hope that the following blog recommendations will help you find additional [...]

Over the past few years, options trading have become more mainstream with many discount brokers advertising options trading along with other investments such as mutual funds, stocks and bonds. There are even online discount brokers with the word “options” in their names — e.g., OptionsXpress and OptionsHouse. But what exactly are options? An option is [...]

Due to the credit crisis and recession, there are a lot of houses for sale. Homeowners who are trying to avoid foreclosure are selling many of these homes. Needless to say, it’s a buyer’s market and homeowners need to know all the tricks to help them sell their homes quickly. Fortunately, there are proven techniques [...]

If you’re an investor in index funds, like I am, then you probably believe that it’s impossible to beat the market in the long run. You’ve had everyone from bloggers to Warren Buffett tell you the best thing for you is to invest in mutual funds indexed to the market. We do this because we [...]

In this Ask the Expert with Larry Swedroe article, Thomas is wondering why his iShares Barclays TIPS Bond TIP ETF hasn’t paid dividend since last October and if he should switch to individual TIPS through Treasury Direct instead. Here’s the question from Thomas:
I own the TIP ETF (iShares Barclays TIPS Bond). It has not paid [...]

Inverse ETFs are a class of ETFs that rises in value when their underlying asset falls. For example, the ProShares Short QQQ ETF (whose underlying asset is the NASDAQ) will rise, if the NASDAQ falls. So, if you expect companies in the NASDAQ to perform poorly, you could buy the ProShares Short QQQ. Recently, Inverse [...]

This is the 12th issue of the Ask The Expert column by Larry Swedroe. You can see Larry’s full biography and important disclaimer below. If you are interested in having your question answered by Larry, please send me an email via the contact page.
Now, let’s get to the questions and answers (please note that the [...]

I was reading Larry Swedroe’s The Only Guide to Alternative Investments You’ll Ever Need the other day, I have been thinking about adding commodities to my portfolio since.  No, I am not going to buy a futures contract; however, I have been thinking about adding commodities to my overall portfolio. Commodities have been taking significant [...]