A Market Anomaly

This is actually a serious post. You can tell by the look on my face. I got a letter from a dear friend about investing the proceeds from the sale of a house, and how much she was looking forward to doing this. She included a quote from a gentleman named Ney about crooks and thieves, and that's when I decided to drop thinking about sex for a moment and write a serious post. I have been investing for myself for a long time. This is an area where you can do it well, or horribly. You have some choices to make. You can go to a fee only financial planner and have that person go through all of your finances, produce a financial plan, and invest your money for you. You can call a mutual fund company like Fidelity or T. Rowe Price or Vanguard, and talk to them about how to invest with them. Or, you can do it yourself.

You need to get educated, and that includes finding a broker. If you go to a big house, like Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley, you won't get an experienced broker unless you have at least $35,000 and then, it's doubtful. The better the broker, the more you need to get to him or her. So what do you do?

First, open a money market account at a Fidelity, or T. Rowe, Price, or Vanguard, or your bank, and deposit your money. No exceptions. Second. get educated. No substitute, no deviation. And ABSOLUTELY NO DELEGATION. One book to start, Jim Cramer's "Real Money". This does not mean you know anything. It means you have started. If you have learned anything, you have learned not to bet the ranch on anything, and to ease into things, and to do your homework. Now, you can start.

So what's the big deal about a market anomaly, And why do you always leave the best for last, are you some kind of deranged Judy Collins nut? That was a rhetorical question, by the way, for those of you that didn't recognize it.

OK, gather around, we don't tell these kinds of things to just anyone. There's this guy Barry Ritholtz. Nice smile, decent tie, and he scares the hell out of Larry Kudlow on CNBC. Kudlow is a leading Republican economist who wants you to believe that the economy is going up forever. Barry Ritholtz has correctly called the direction of the market for years now. Mr. Ritholtz writes for thestreet.com which is owned by Jim Cramer. Mr. Ritholtz wrote a series of articles called The Apprenticed Investor. If you want to become an investor, if you want to become a better investor, you must read this series. I reread several articles every month because I always need to get better.

Here's the nice part. You can read Mr Ritholtz's blog for free. He writes about the economy and a whole host of items with at http://bigpicture.typepad.com/ which is how I found him. You can also reference the Apprentice Investor from the right margin. Market Anomaly? You can buy his research for $400 a year which includes market calls. They don't come every week. But, I made the $400 back the first week I had the account. That has never happened with any other Wall Street research I have purchased.

If you want more information, go to Mr. Ritholtz's blog.

offices@ritholtz.com is his e mail address

Now, I'm going back to work!