-
More sage advice
Investors like advice about everything—including how to be successful. Whether they take that advice or not, nobody knows for sure, but that doesn’t stop the topic from being a hot and well-read one.
Last week this opening section focused on Warren Buffett’s investing words of wisdom—the simplest point he always makes is to be sure to invest in companies you know about.
This week, I’m passing on investment advice and moving into what it takes to be successful.
That said, below are tidbits from three people whose names we are all familiar with thanks to their media star power and the fact that they have made oodles of money and been hugely successful. Info is from a recent CNBC.com piece:
- Barbara Corcoran, you know her from “Shark Tank”, as the go-to gal for looking good and first impressions. She’s a big believer in dressing for success. No plumber-butt pants for her or the men whose products she’s promoting.
From the CNBC.com story: “When the real estate queen rented her first apartment in 1973, she collected a $360 commission check, ran over to Bergdorf Goodman and “blew it on a new coat,” she says. “It was the smartest thing I could have done with the money because, in it, I felt powerful.”
- Richard Branson, the guy who knows how to make the most of a Virgin, is big on relationships.
“The key to success in business is all about people, people, people,” the billionaire entrepreneur writes on his blog. “It should go without saying, if you look after your people, your customers and bottom line will be rewarded too.”
So how do you develop extraordinary people skills? Branson says to pay attention to what people say and to be a great listener.
- Mark Cuban understands the value of having no debt.
From the piece: “The best investment anyone can make is “paying off your credit cards,” says the self-made billionaire. “Paying off whatever debt you have.”
Cuban said: “Whatever interest rate you have — it might be a student loan with a 7 percent interest rate — if you pay off that loan, you’re making 7 percent. That’s your immediate return, which is a lot safer than trying to pick a stock or trying to pick real estate, or whatever it may be.”
I’m hoping President Trump reads and heeds Cuban’s advice.
-
Market Quick Glance
If you had followed the old adage, “ Sell in May and go away” you would have short-changed yourself, based on last week’s index returns.
All four indices followed here made some nice jumps up in their year-to-date performances figures. The Russell 2000 and NASDAQ leaping the most.
Below are the weekly and 1-year index performance results for four major indices— including the dates each reached new highs—according to CNBC.com based on prices at the close of business on Friday, May 11, 2018.
–DJIA +0.45% YTD moved up from the previous week’s -1.85
•1rRtn 18.70% up a bunch from the previous week’s 15.80%
Most recent DJIA all-time high was reached on January 26, 2018 of 26,616.71. The previous high was reached January 18, 2018 was 26,153.42.
-S&P 500 +2.02% YTD up a heap from week’s -0.38%
- 1 yr Rtn 13.92% a jump up from last week’s 11.48%
The S&P 500 reached its most recent all-time high on January 26, 2018 of 2,872.87. The previous high was reached on January 19, 2018 of 2810.33.
-NASDAQ 7.24% YTD big jump up from last week’s 4.44%
- 1yr Rtn 21.04% up from last week’s 18.67%
Nasdaq reached a brand new all-time high on March 13, 2018 of 7,637.27. The previous high was reached on March 9, 2018 of 7,560.81.
-Russell 2000 4.64% YTD jumping up from last week’s 1.96%
- 1yr Rtn 15.58% up a lot from last week’s 12.73%
The Russell 2000 reached an all-time high on January 24, of 1,615.52. The previous high was reached on January 16, 2018 of 1,604.02.
-Mutual funds
Below is a repeat of last week’s report:
The average fund that falls under the broad U.S. Diversified Equity Funds heading had a year-to-date return of -0.53% at the close of business on Thursday, May 3, 2018, 0.65%, according to Lipper. That’s a fall from the previous week’s 0.65% average.
Small-Cap Growth funds ended the week with an average y-t-d return average of 4.10% —down from the previous week’s 6.27%
Then again Dedicated Short Bias Funds had improved and were down only -4.25% instead of -5.43% from the previous week.
Visit www.allaboutfunds.com for more information about how various equity and fixed-income funds have rewarded investors over the short-and long-term, based upon Lipper data. Short-term meaning weekly and monthly performance returns; longer-term includes quarterly, year-to-date, 1-yr, 2-yr, 3-yr and 5-yr returns.
-
Healthcare ETFs
Last week, President Trump declared war on big pharma. As anyone who depends on prescription medications know, the cost of our meds can be outrageous. Not always—Publix, for instance, provides a few drugs for free —but horror stories abound about how some prescription drugs cost pennies to make but big bucks to purchase are well documented. To fight the sometimes-crippling costs of staying alive via meds, plenty of folks have made it a practice to cross the borders into Mexico and/or Canada to save money on their must-have meds.
So Trump’s decision to face pharma is a welcomed one by many. How successful he will be at making a difference on that subject is, however, anybody’s guess. Big pharma has big bucks and even bigger lobbying power.
But the healthcare world has been a source of profits for many investors over the years, and today’s healthcare ETFs are one way to play that field.
If you’re looking for funds to research, ETFTrends.com addressed some of the exchange-traded-funds that focus on healthcare. Below are a few of them.
- Health Care Select Sector SPDR (NYSEArca: XLV)— the largest healthcare exchange traded fund.
- iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQGM: IBB)— the largest biotech exchange traded fund by assets.
- VanEck Vectors Generic Drugs ETF (NasdaqGM: GNRX)
- ALPS Medical Breakthroughs ETF (NYSEArca: SBIO)
- PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals Portfolio (NYSEArca: PJP)
- SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEArca: XBI)
Good luck. Be well.
-30-
allaboutfundsdotcom 