How to evaluate a mutual fund? How to decide when to sell a mutual fund?
371240
The best way to evaluate a mutual fund is through the Sharpe and Treynor ratios.  The higher the numbers the better.  When you come across a fund go to yahoo finance and in the risk section on the left you'll find 3,5,and 10 year sharpe and treynor ratios.  An example of a mutual fund with a high sharpe and treynor ratio is PRLAX or TREMX.  These are emerging market mutual funds and are therefore a bit agressive but the sharpe and treynor take into account not just performance but risk as well.  To get more info on the share and treynor just type them into yahoo search with the word defintion. Do one a time of course.\n\nI hope that helps.
998333
If you are from India, check out the  link below. \n\nBasically, they are a pooling of investors that would rather have someone else do their investing for them.  They give their money to a mutual fund manager and the manager does the investing. For a fee, of course.  There are all types of mutual funds. Ones that invest in growth stocks, ones that invest in bonds, ones that invest in undervalued stocks, ones that invest in foreign stocks, and relatively new, ones that invest in a market average.  The last came about because mutual funds in general--70%--could not get a better return than the market in general. \n\nThat does not mean that all mutual funds are bad. But is does mean that you have to do your home work before buying one.  You can get your money back by just giving them a phone call or sending a request over the internet. Some mutual funds are sold by stock brokers and the funds are held by the broker and you sell them by calling the broker.  Every year at year end the mutual fund distributes the money that they realized on their investments.  That has pluses and minuses.  The plus is that you get the money. The minus is that you have to pay taxes on it. The index funds do not distribute so much because they do not sell their investments so often. So they are an advantage in that respect.
388299
Mutual funds are a group of investors, that usually don't have enough money at one time, pooling there money together to maximize their buying power and  with more money they buy many different stocks in many different companies so that they limit their risk of loss by not investing in one company( or putting your eggs in one basket) Do to the fact that they pool their money the mutual fund can then afford a professional fund manager to pick which stocks, bonds, or money markets to invest in.  Also there are many types of funds, some balanced meaning they invest in all three, stocks, bonds, and money markets, simultaneously and some invest all in stocks, or bonds, or money markets individually. Anyway that is another big discussion. I hope that this helps you out.\n\nRemember mutual funds will never have the big returns of individual stocks but there wont be the losses either.\n\nAverage gains of 8% to 12% over the life of the fund should not be too hard to get.
631755
The advantages of mutual funds:\n\nsome funds specialize in areas that the average investor would have a difficult time investing in, such as stocks of foreign countries and stocks of small cap companies for example. \n\nmutual funds allow for diversification without having to buy a bucket of stocks.  \n\neasy to purchase and sell for the small investor.\n\ndisadvantages:\n\n70% of mutual funds under perform the market in general. Not a great record. \n\nmany mutual funds are bloated. It is difficult to invest a billion dollars.\n\nmutual funds have to declare and pay capital gains once a year on which one will have to pay taxes. If you buy and hold a sound quality stock, that is not the case.
1096968
In simplest terms, mutual funds are just groups of investments. They can be stocks, or bonds, or a combination of the two. They can even be investments in real estate (REITs).\n\nIn an active mutual fund, a fund manager decides what to purchase for the fund. In a stock fund, the manager picks the stocks to buy in hopes that the stocks will go up. In bond fund, he picks bonds. In some funds, the manager has the option of choosing between both stock and bonds. He may even decide buy nothing if he can't find anything worth buying, keeping cash on hand until he finds something worthwhile to buy.\n\nIn an index fund, a fund manager's main job is just to buy the stocks or bonds in an index. For example, in an S&P 500 stock fund, the manager's job is to buy all the stocks in S&P 500 and hold them.
722674
Your best bet is a no load mutual fund. But you need to be a little selective. I have run a yahoo screen of candidate mutual funds for you to consider. \n\nThe best results come with having a quarterly, some say monthly, investment plan--say add $100 to $200 quarterly. That way you average out the market swings buying less stock when the market is up and more when the market is down. \n\nNote: mutual funds have a year end distribution of realized gains. It is best to purchase right after the distribution because the price reflects the amount distributed.
1025812
To do a real assessment of worth you'll have to value the business based on cash-flow and bring each year to present value. There are spreadsheets available on-line to do this. Just plug expenses, sales, projected growth, etc. and you'll get your answer. If you want the quick and dirty: you'll recuperate the investment in a little over 3 years. Plug the interest you want for your money, (say 7%). Bring it to present value and you'll still recoup in 5 years or less with the growth you mentioned. That is really good. If you like what the business is about and you don't mind doing the work in case one of your guys gets sick and have the ability to make it grow, then go for it.
673210
I recommend low-cost mutual funds.  Vanguard has many good ones, and Fidelity has some very low-cost index funds.  Look for tax-managed funds, or tax-exempt bond funds.  Some bond funds are exempt from taxes in a particular state as well. However, tax exempt bond funds give lower returns.  You should talk to a tax advisor to see which way is better for you.  In stock funds, index funds tend to have lower capital gains than actively managed funds, and the returns are often just as good or better.\n\nIf your stock isn't already in a retirement fund, you can't just put it all in there at once.  You're limited to $4000/year in contributions. Do a Roth IRA if you can, but there's an income limit, and the stock sale may put you over that limit.  If you don't qualify for Roth, put what you can in a traditional IRA.  Either way, inside the IRA you can buy some of the mutual funds I mentioned.\n\nIf you can transfer $4000 worth of stock directly into the IRA and then sell it, that may avoid the capital gains tax on that portion.\n\nAny single stock is a high-risk investment, because it can go up or down quickly, so you can reduce your risk a lot by selling and diversifying (into those mutual funds.)  The bad news is that you'll have to pay capital gains taxes on the sale of your stock, especially if you've had it for less than a year.\n\nYou should also talk to a tax professional about the Alternative Minimum Tax, which can hit you if you have a large capital gain like that.\n\nBy the way, real estate has been fantastic recently, but it's showing signs of slowing down.  This may not be a good time to invest heavily in real estate.
28586
Morningstar is a nice resource, but remember it is strictly backwards-looking analysis. Kiplingers is OK but is biased towards no loads. (There is a recent study out in the Journal of Financial Planning {October, 2005} that challenges the idea that index funds always outperform actively managed funds.\n\nHere's what I start with when looking for a fund to fill an asset category:\nPerformance relative to peers\nAsset size (Avoid the bloated funds)\nManager Tenure (Great 5 & 10 year numbers mean little if the manager has only been there for 2 years)\nFee structure\n\nThe important thing to remember is to allocate your assets in a manner in line with your time horizon and risk tolerance and DON'T CHASE PERFORMANCE. This years winners are not usually on the top of the heap next year.\n\nIt is never a bad idea to consult a financial planner, either.
480773
You can get a feel for the "game" and not own a share of any stock. Select some stocks you think might be a good buy and set up a portfolio on a spreadsheet. Follow the stocks over a period of time and see how you did. Have a reason why you picked each stock and see if it turns out to be correct.\n\nAlso pick a couple of good index mutual funds from Vanguard, Fidelity, T Rowe Price and see how they do. I'd bet in a year they will be doing better than the total of the stocks you pick yourself.
897653
Your investment is in an IRA so there won't be a taxable distribution (unless you pull the money out of the investment).  Sometimes there can be account closure fees that mutual funds may charge or the financial institution you are working with.  If you are in a bad investment, it can be worth any fee to move into a stronger investment.  Look for long-term results rather than just the past 3 or 5 years.  Good Luck.
2610
Whether you're hit with the AMT or not, the real answer is that you should exercise the shares when you are ready to sell them, there's no other reason for you to exercise shares unless you're leaving the company.  \n\nThere are tax and AMT issues, but without understanding your full income picture there's no real way to answer that question.\n\nI know of several people that exercised stock, held it and then placed margin buys against the value of the shares, when their stock tanked the margins were called and at least one of these individuals had to sell their house to pay off the margin call.  I was in your position a few years ago, i exercised and sold immediately all shares that i exercised.  [if for no other reason to 'diversify my portfolio']
782690
Mutual funds are appropriate for some and the wrong investment for a growing number of people.\n\nFor me, I would NOT invest in mutual funds if it weren't for having a 401K. \n\nOverall, Mutual funds are not good (once you're educated in investing) and many people should not invest in mutual funds unless you have to (like if it were a requirement in a 401K).\n\nHere's why.\n\nFirst of all, mutual funds exist to take average person's money.\n\nSecond, mutual funds seem to be "happy" just to do better than the S&P index, since that's often the gauge. A monkey, yes monkey, can usually outpick most mutual funds. Over 60% of the mutual funds out there can't even outperform the market (CNBC just reported the current # was 72%). That's VERY SAD!\n\nThird, mutual funds have embedded management fees in their costs. Most of these mgmt fees are 0.5% to 2% annually.\n\nFourth, most mutual funds exist not to earn you a lot of money, but are more interested in NOT "losing" you lots of money. That way you stay with them and they continue to collect their fees.\n\nFifth, mutual funds are not as liquid as one might think. If you're in mutual funds and a Bush talks in the morning and you call your broker to sell because the market is now tanking, the broker will gladly take your order, but the order will not be executed until the day is over and the negative impact is already priced into the fund.\n\nSixth, many mutual funds charge extra "fees" if you buy/sell their fund within a certain amount of time, meaning you must keep your money in the fund 90 days to 2 yrs before you're free from the fees (read the fine print on trying to get a withdrawal). These fees can be up to 3% or so of your money as well.\n\nSeventh, mutual funds have to be in the market. So if the market is crashing or going down like it has between May and now, then the funds still have to be in the market and taking those losses too. With some practice, you can time your monies to avoid some of those losses (it'll take practice).\n\nConvinced yet? Need more? \n\nEighth, mutual funds have to be pretty diversified and so if there are hot and cold sectors, they are probably in both the hot sectors and cold sectors. However, as an investor, you can buy into just the sectors you want, like metals, or housing, or energy, etc. or right now, Brokers/Dealers, Retail, and insurance!\n\nNinth, mutual funds are so big, they can only invest in certain companies. A small mutual fund with $10 billion in assets. 1% of that money is $100 million. How many companies are this big where $100 million investment isn't the whole company? Do you want to limit yourself to just those larger companies like Times Warner, Microsoft, home depot, cisco, ebay which have been sideways for years? I think not.\n\nA better way would be to buy ETFs (exchange traded funds) or holders. These trade like stocks, so are very liquid, and do not have the high fees like the mutual funds. Further, you can buy/sell them as you wish. They represent sectors or indexes, so buying them gives you the same diversification as the sector/industry/index, but with much less overhead!\n\nSee Amex.com (american stock exchange) or ishares.com, holders.com for more info. \n\n\nYou need to invest for yourself. If you can't, then sure, use mutual funds. But be aware of the shortcomings (and as you can see, there are many). \n\nLet me know if you have further questions. \n\nBest of luck!
207614
Invest in Mutual Fund, the way to make a fortune in mutual funds are through compounding.  Compounding happens when your earnings themselves generate more earnings, allowing you put ever-greater sums to work.  The more time that goes by, the more powerful compounding becomes.\n\nIn order to get the most benefit from compounding, you'll need a carefully selected growth-stock fund, and you'll need to stick with over time.  For example, if you purchased $10,000 of a diversified domestick growth-stock fund that average about 15% a year over a period of 35 years, you will have $1.28 million!\n\nSuppose you also added $2,000 each year and let it compound as well. your total would then come to more than $3 million!  Now, how much more do you think you'sd have if you also bought a little extra during every bear market while the fund was temporarily down 30% or more from its peak?  \n\nNothing's guaranteed in this world, and yes, there are always taxes,  How better growth funds over the last 50 years, and what could happen to you if you plan and invest in mutual fund correctly.
715858
You don't say how old you are, what kind of resourses you have or your knowledge of finance in general, I.E. do you know how the market works, listed vs over the counter, options, etc.?  Before you invest a dime remember the cardinal rule of investing: the public finds out after the money's been made.  In other words, if a stock is at a high it's not the time to get in.  Also, the corolary: if it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true.  Finaly, don't invest money that you can't afford to lose, especially if you're speculating (which it sounds like you are).  Go to Morningstar.com and sign up.  It will be the best money you spend for ideas, research and analysis.  Read the Wall Street Journal and look for companies with a future.  You might want to put money in an index such as the S&P 500 especially if you think the market will keep going up (and it won't - it will correct).  Bottom line is that there is no easy answer to your question.  \n\nAvoid the following:\n\nemails with stock tips\nfax messages with stock tips\nany stock selling for under $5.00 a share (unless you're willing to lose all you invest in it\npenny stock\noptions\ncommodities\nfriends who say they "know a guy who knows a guy who said..."\n\nDo the following:\n\nUse a reputable broker either bricks and mortar (Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros, etc, or a reputable on line broker like E*Trade, Scwabb, etc.\nPut half your money in a good mutual funds of either high or mid-cap companies - you'll have gains while you experiment\nPick a point at which you want to get out on the up side (on Wall Street the pigs get slaughtered) and stick to it\nIf a stock is falling, pick a point at which you want to cut your loss.  If it;s a good company you can always buy in at what you think the low is.\n\nGood luck.  If you find the secret let me know.  I stick to known companies with solid balance sheets and a track record.  Even so I've lost (Worldcom, GM and a few others).
270161
First off did you pay taxes on the Dividends that you received from the Mutual Fund or did you pay taxes on both the earnings of the mutual fund and the Dividends.  \n\nIf you haven't paid taxes on the earnings every year then you have to pay taxes on the entire amount of earnings. (Your current value of the fundsdifferencee cost basis) In this case your cost basis is simply the initial investment.  \n\nIf you have paid taxes on your earnings.  Then the cost basis is the amount your reported last year.  For example if you reported that the value of your fund went up from $100 to $150 in 2004 and you paid the taxes on that $50 earning.  Then for 2005 your cost basis will be $150 and you would pay the taxes on the diffrence of that $150 and your current value.\n\nWithout knowing any more specific information about your situation I don't believe I can give better advice then that.\n\nBelow are some websites from the IRS on accounting methods and selling of stocks/mutual funds.\n\nMonteverde2\nUS Army Tax Preparer
664117
Mutual funds are actively mangaged...ie, the manager takes everyone's money , pools it, and buys and sells whatever stocks seem like decent buys.\n\nETFs tend to be pretty static, ie, not alot of change in the makeup of them.\n\nETF's prices change throughout the day as the underlying stocks change price. Theoretically, you could buy in the morning and sell in the afternoon and have 2 different prices. Mutual funds TEND to get priced once a day, after the closing bell.\n\nWith much less turnover, you won't get capital gains distributions from ETFs like you would mutual funds.\n\nETFs trade like stocks...but they are "stocks" made up of other stocks.\n\nETFs are really popular now and getting more popular. Expenses TEND to be lower...if you can find some you like...that might be the route to go.