Topic: How To Invest

What is Pat’s commentary for the week of March 20, 2024

Article Excerpt

As long-time readers know, we welcomed the arrival of ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) when they came on the market as “the most benign stock market innovation we’ve seen since stock commissions became negotiable.” However, the financial industry often figures out a way to offer investors attractive terms on a newly minted version of an innovation, just to get their interest. This is the “introductory bargain phase” of the innovation’s life. Eventually, the industry introduces an updated version that’s a little more beneficial to the industry and a little less generous to the clients. Later versions may still have some appeal, especially for investors with cash to invest and little time to consider the best place to do so. Eventually the industry comes up with a version that you could compare to snatching loose change off the ground when it’s in the path of a bulldozer. This, though, is an extreme. More often, the industry comes up with a middle-of-the-road version that will make…