The key to successful Investment Management is Asset Allocation, the process of dividing the available investment dollars into two, and only two, buckets: Equity and Income Investments. All investment grade securities fit within one of these two classifications, based solely upon the primary purpose for their ownership. There are several key issues involved in successful Asset Allocation

Corrections are as much a part of the normal Market Cycle as rallies, and they can be brought about by either bad news or good news. Investors always over-analyze when prices become weak and over-indulge when prices are high, thus perpetuating the “buy high, sell low” Wall Street lunacy.

Income portfolios should have a stable market value. In thirty-five years of investment management, I’ve determined that the single biggest error investors make is their focus on the market value of income securities. Stable income yes; stable market value – not! Roughly 25% of you incorrectly put this one in the “True” column.

By Noel Sheppard January 17, 2010 – 01:25 ET Former Barack Obama supporter Jim Cramer on Friday said the stock market would have a huge rally if Scott Brown defeats Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s special senatorial election in Massachusetts. “I think investors who are nervous about the dictatorship of the Pelosi proletariat will feel at [...]

By Jonathan Burton SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Knowing that there can be too much of a good thing, many investors are wary about how stock and bond markets this year will follow their remarkable 2009 surge. One thing’s for sure: This year won’t be like the last. “We’re not going up 65% in the first [...]

Tuesday, 12 Jan 2010 03:48 PM The Federal Reserve Bank of New York faces a congressional subpoena into bailout decisions made under the leadership of now-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., said Tuesday he will subpoena the New York Fed for documents related to the bailout of failed insurer American International Group Inc. [...]

It was a fabulous decade for those investors who were able to see over, beyond, and through artificial time constraints to find the long-term opportunities within every beautiful market cycle undulation. There were plenty of gyrations to gyrate to if you only knew how.

By: Dan Weil The yield premium of Treasury bonds over Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) has reached a 16-month high, signaling inflation ahead. The yield premium for 10-year Treasuries over 10-year TIPS closed above 2.25 percentage points four times last week, the longest streak since August 2008, Bloomberg reports. That spread indicates that 10-year Treasury yields, [...]

Sunday, 20 Dec 2009 02:50 PM Skeptical kids can doubt whether Santa Claus exists. But for stock-market statisticians, there’s not much debate: The year-end lift known as the Santa Claus rally is no myth. The stock market typically posts modest, but reliable, gains in late December into the beginning of early January. “It’s pretty much [...]

By Thomas Ferraro and Andy Sullivan Thomas Ferraro and Andy Sullivan – Thu Dec 17, 2:08 pm ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Thursday endorsed a proposed bipartisan commission to help make the tough calls needed to get the spiraling and record U.S. debt under control. Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Greenspan [...]