Asset

Insurance Company rating agency A.M. Best released a report on the state of the industry for life and annuity insurance companies. The report is somewhat optimistic given the carnage the industry has experienced over the past year or so. The industry as a whole managed to eke out a small amount of net income --$91.5 million--for 2008. However, capital losses for 2008 reached $19.6 billion. Companies such as Allstate Corporation and The Hartford Financial Services have been hit hardest. However...

A recent study from John Bogle indicates that retail investors are making miserable buy and sell decisions with exchanged traded funds (ETF). The study looks at the difference between between an ETF's return and the returns of the average dollar invested in those funds. In other words, the study looks at the difference between the fund's return over a particular time frame and the return to the average investor in the fund who made buy and sell decisions over that same period. The study...