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When Howard Marks talks, the Street listens
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Since founding Oaktree Capital in L.A. in 1995, Howard Marks, 64, has built his institutional investment firm into a $76 billion powerhouse in high-yield bonds, distressed debt, and private equity. During the 2008 financial crisis he raised an unprecedented $10.9 billion fund to buy distressed assets -- a bet that has paid off richly for his investors. Admired for the folksy charm and astute commentary of his letters to investors, Marks shared his wisdom with Fortune's Mina Kimes.
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The great debate: Are stocks pricey?
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Equities have soared more than 70% since last March, but they're still down 25% from their 2007 peak. Does that mean stocks are trading at a bargain, or has the recent rally made the market frothy again?
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Deflation? Inflation? Protect against both
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You know that stocks have a knack for climbing a wall of worry. You saw that firsthand last year, when in the midst of the global financial crisis, the Standard & Poor's 500 index skyrocketed more than 70% from its March 2009 lows.
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Finding good buys in tough industries
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You've probably been told to keep things simple when it comes to managing your portfolio. And that's typically good advice. Yet I'm reminded of that famous quote from Albert Einstein, who said, "Make everything as simple as possible -- but not simpler."
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When a fund manager flees, should you?
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Navigating a choppy market is hard enough. Making matters worse is the fact that some of the most respected skippers in the fund industry are leaving the portfolios they've helmed for years.
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Putting your money where your heart is
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Years ago I interviewed a money manager who was a Mormon. One of his biggest (and ultimately shrewdest) bets was a tobacco company.
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Leon Cooperman: There's still room to move
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When it comes to hedge funds, few have been doing it longer -- or better -- than Leon Cooperman.
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A star fund manager gets cautious
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In the past few years you'd have been paid well to listen to Tom Forester. He saved investors tens of millions in 2008 as the only U.S. stock manager whose fund posted a gain for the year.
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3 lessons for investing overseas
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Greece, of all places. Who knew you had to worry about what happens in Greece?
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The wrong way to pick funds
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Photographer friends tell me that if you're picking out a point-and-shoot camera you shouldn't focus much on the megapixels. That measure of a camera's resolution is hyped by manufacturers, but most cameras on the market give you all the pixels you'll need.
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Mr. Distress is ready to buy
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Whether it's steel, textiles, or auto manufacturing, Wilbur Ross has built a lucrative career finding gold in industries left for dead.
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Why diversification will work again
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Diversification, the notion of spreading your investments among different baskets of assets that don't rise and fall in unison, has long been considered one of the safest and surest moves you can make with your portfolio. After all, if any one basket falls apart, most of your brood should remain intact.
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Can Vanguard Wellington keep running?
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Vanguard Wellington is a throwback. Before mutual funds became specialized, so-called balanced funds like this -- which invests in both stocks and bonds -- were core holdings you could feel comfortable putting most of your money into.
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3 ways to find value in a pricey market
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A year ago, when all sorts of investments -- stocks, bonds, commodities -- were being tossed on the scrap heap, dyed-in-the-wool bargain hunters who had the courage to sift through the market's ruins were richly rewarded.
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Digging for opportunities in gold
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Having lived through bubbles in technology stocks and real estate, many investors have grown nervous lately about gold. Its price quadrupled in the past decade to a record $1,227 an ounce in December, before falling back near $1,100. Hedge fund legend George Soros, for example, recently warned that "the ultimate asset bubble is gold." Others, by contrast, cling to it as the ultimate safe haven in a period of wrenching economic uncertainty.
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A banner year for hedge funds
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It looks like risk is back. The hedge fund industry had a phenomenal 2009, with a return of 18.6%, for its greatest rebound in 15 years, says a report from industry research firm Credit Suisse Tremont.
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The $61 billion man
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In an era of specialization, world allocation funds take on a challenge that verges on hubris: All it requires is deep expertise in stocks, bonds, and other securities in virtually every market on the face of the earth.
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Do we have the right investment mix?
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Richard and Cheryl Ebers began their married life together just nine years ago. She was divorced and raising two sons (now adults); he was a widower with a young boy of his own (Eric, now 13 ).
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Can you outsmart the market?
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As you try to figure out how to put your money to work in a market that veers from depression to mania, you're confronted with two opposing facts that lead to opposing investing strategies.
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Can I retire early?
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Kevin ford has worked as an engineer in the Detroit auto industry for more than three decades - currently for the car company that best suits his name. His wife, Janice, is also a veteran of the field, a fellow engineer who even ran her own dealership for a few years before leaving the industry in 2005 to do part-time business development consulting. Kevin hoped to follow her into retirement at age 55, and two years ago that seemed doable. The family had nearly $1 million saved, plus a hefty pension; they had no debt besides a $300,000 mortgage; their son, Darrell, was out of college and daughter, Kimberly, would be done in 2011.
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