I've made my list and checked it twice, and because picking on the naughty is always so nice, here is the second installment of the 2006 Lump of Coal Awards. This is my 11th year giving out Lumps of ...

Many fund investors will get an unpleasant surprise from their tax preparer this year: a bill for the distributions they got from their funds, even though those funds may have had a disappointing year ...

It's easy to banter about "playing the market," but investing is no game when it's your money at stake. And yet there is little doubt that people pay a lot of attention to games when money is at stake ...

About eight years ago, Michael W. was looking for ideas when he went to an investor conference in his native New Orleans. Trying to pin down a speaker for the names of good funds, he asked, "Which ...

The people who visit this space are nothing if not inquisitive about mutual funds. Here is what those inquiring minds want to know after reading some of my recent work: Q: I just finished my taxes for ...

The question remains whether investors will recognize when the troubles affecting the financial-services industry will actually hit home with their own stock funds and make them less competitive and ...

Dear fund industry bigwigs, I know you're busy trying to put a bow on a solid performance year so that you can sell it hard in 2007, but I'd hate for the holidays to pass without sending a reminder ...

Here’s what could happen to gold prices next. Nervous investors have flocked to gold as a safe haven against inflation, geopolitics, and, most recently, tariff turmoil, and they have been well-paid ...

The mutual-fund business is the proverbial camel, the one that was supposed to be a horse until it was built by committee. It is filled with arcane rules and procedures that can make funds perform ...

Mike D. from Davis, Calif., finally picked a financial planner last month. He and his wife did the interviews, settled on an adviser who works for a name-brand brokerage firm, provided their detailed ...

Over the next few weeks, most mutual-fund investors will receive — and ignore — important documents. They'll focus on their annual statement — the one showing how well or poorly they did in 2007 — ...