How to Handle a Painfully Unpredictable Market

What’s an investor to do? Our quarterly survey contains some lessons and suggestions.

After a Market Swoon, Investors Want Safety

Recession fears have emerged despite strong job growth, making some investors wary of stocks and looking for havens. But many strategists urge caution, saying it isn’t wise to pile on risk until the status of the market and the economy are clearer.

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Real Estate Funds Have Been a Balm in a Stinging Market

Real estate funds fared reasonably well through much of the autumn downturn. While headline-grabbing sectors like technology plunged, funds that invested in commercial real estate — office buildings, malls and warehouses — were fairly steady. What are their prospects in a really rocky market?

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For a While, Bond Funds Were an Exception to the Indexing Rule

Bonds are often a source of solace during stock downturns, and active bond funds have done relatively well compared with index funds. Active bond funds were actually beating index funds in 2018 until December, but then they fell behind.

The problem is that index funds tend to be cheap and difficult to beat consistently. In the longer term, it’s hard to make a strong case for the human touch.

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I’ll Do Evil and I’ll Get Rich. You Can Have a Share.

Social media companies have made a big mistake, our columnist John Schwartz says. They have apologized for what they say are errors. But he has a plan: He will proudly do bad things, evil things and, with total transparency, become obscenely rich.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/12/business/how-to-handle-a-painfully-unpredictable-market.html?partner=rss&emc=rss