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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

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  • I agree with a couple of small aspects, but overall, it's another example of "clickbait" by Marketwatch, which is one of the worst online financial media outlets. The funny thing is that people talk about watching CNBC with the sound off - sometimes I have marketwatch up just for the scrolling news feed at the top.
  • edited August 2014
    the answer to your question is not just a simple "yes". it is "hell yeah". It is not about drivel necessarily. However it is definitely recycling their junk over and over again. Mention 1929 crash, various recessions, talk about diversifying. We all know we supposed to flush after peeing and not vice versa right? Why we need to be told again?

    Like I have said before, we all carry a burden, the responsibility. Stop feeding these people. Linking their article means you created one more link to their article. Depublicize crap and it will at least smell less if not go away.
  • I will not click any links to Marketwatch. They lost all credibility years ago. Their so called writers mix conflicts of interest in with their opinions. Selling newsletters or investing services is the main objective. I won't mention names but it is easy to figure out whom I'm talking about.
  • Hey, guys, and it's AUGUST--- an extra pergative! On occasion, Jaffe will sink his teeth into something and do a little useful digging; otherwise, as long as one has a good supply of rolls in the bathroom, there is no reason to pay a visit.:)

    And there is one huge reason not to visit. If you have ever registered, even many years ago, they remember your e-mail address for-ev-ah! For me, I committed the sin of just going there last Monday for a single quote--- no log-in--- which led to my inbox becoming peppered with spam spam spam within 24. I shall now have to continue to mark each and every one of 'em as "junk" for about a week, before things will finally taper off [what was I thinking? NOT]
  • Their so called writers mix conflicts of interest in with their opinions. Selling newsletters or investing services is the main objective. I won't mention names but it is easy to figure out whom I'm talking about.

    JohnChisum hit the nail on the head with his post. I'm familiar with the writer, Ken Moraif. There's only one reason he writes articles, in my opinion: To get more clients, as he is a registered investment advisor. He also has a radio program, and website.

    On the radio program and in the articles, he has a big hook to catch fish: And before I forget, I think the guy is pretty intelligent and basically says intelligent and interesting things. He may very well be a good investor and good registered investment advisor for his clients....I don't know.

    Back to where I was: his big hook----he constantly says that retirees (and those close to retirement) can't afford to take a big loss from the type of bear markets we had in 2007-2009/2000-2002.....so his big hook is his market timing. He claims that he got his clients out in time to sidestep most of the losses during the 2007-2009 bear market. He plans to sidestep bear markets, and that's his big advertisement to prospective clients: 'Don't risk losing your retirement assets....you cannot afford to have your assets go down 40% in a bear market....I will protect your assets by selling very early in a bear market and you will be out of the market for most of the losses'.

    In another MarketWatch article he outlines 3 sell methodologies. He didn't state which one(s) he uses to try to sidestep bear markets for his clients in his advisory service.
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-sell-strategies-to-protect-retirement-savings-2014-07-29

    In the article referenced by the OP (davidmoran), he shows his hook a bit:
    "Keep your cool, don't panic and work with an adviser who can guide you along in making rational investment decisions, no matter the state of the market."

    In the 3 Sell Strategies article I referenced above, he states: "retiree investors should be concerned first and foremost about protecting the loss of principal by getting out of the market at a certain, predetermined point"

    Anyway, it's a bit hidden, but I believe the ulterior motive of all his articles is to get more clients.

    Not saying he is a bad guy, and he may do a fine service for his clients, but this article and all his MarketWatch articles have, IMO, ulterior motives and conflicts of interest.......generation of more clients.....clients who are afraid of bear markets, and Ken Moraif is going to protect your assets by selling early.

    Good luck. I hope Ken is successful in sidestepping most of the losses of bear markets, which is the main selling point of his advisory service....he never fails to mention it.
  • I didn't know about Ken Moraif since I haven't been there in quite some time. Another example is Michael Gayed of Pension Partners. When I was active on that site I would bring up the obvious conflict of interest only to have my posts deleted. It turned out that Mr Gayed was not only the writer but the moderator of the comments. All you would read were favorable posts.

    I said I wouldn't mention names but Ken Moraif was too similar to Michael Gayed.

    There are some big names on that site that I won't mention that have the same issues. Their articles get linked here on a daily basis. I refuse to read them.
  • Personally I have no problems mentioning names.
    Let the truth come out.
    No more cover ups.
    If they are going to expose themselves to the public by writing articles, the facts should come out. And the facts will help the people who are on the fence and considering their services. Maybe their services are worth paying for.....don't know....but the full facts should come out.

    That's outrageous that your comments were deleted, and only favorable posts survived.
  • edited August 2014
    I can't type anymore, but I can link this. Far more important than most things one should want to spend one's time on, to understand, recognize, and avoid.

  • Ha! Crack me up...
  • In grade school we were handed a small magazine each month called The ABC's of Industry. Lots of informative pieces about GE light bulbs and Zenith radios and other brands of that era. I suppose these days that would be called corporate brainwashing.

    Incidentally we had a Zenith record player.
  • In grade school we were handed a small magazine each month called The ABC's of Industry. Lots of informative pieces about GE light bulbs and Zenith radios and other brands of that era. I suppose these days that would be called corporate brainwashing.

    Incidentally we had a Zenith record player.

    I have a Marantz Record Player NOW:) Couldn't afford it in High School. Could afford to buy and fix it myself now. I guess this has been going on for a long time accept because we didn't quite receive it in our "inbox" we didn't spot it.

    Capitalism's cross to bear.
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  • edited August 2014
    Maurice said:

    To the point of a website knowing who you are, I believe they track you with cookies and beacons. Delete this crap every time you close your browser, and that should solve the problem of the email flood. There are a variety of ways to skin that cat.

    I see what you are saying, however what I was alluding to is that based on JC's comment, corporations have been doing this for years - advertisements masquerading as news - only we didn't see it for what it was. Or we did indeed, but didn't mind it since it was not this rampant. Or we are just smarter because we are older and our stupid kids are still lapping it up.
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  • ROFL. Yes Yahoo Finance has every alternate link almost an advertisement. However, it is quite easy to spot actually. They haven't mastered the art of obfuscation yet. Or dare I say, they actually have some shame.
  • @Maurice Well....now that you mention it...... since I go to MarketWatch so rarely (if only because just the thought of MW makes me a tad dyspeptic), I don't recall doing a blanket block of that site for beacons & cookies with my Ghostery program. It's certainly worth a try. I'm not 100% sure it's them, but let's put it this way--- during the past year, the correlations are really stacking up!:)
  • Maybe it's the problem with online media. This desire to have to compete with everyone, which results in the view that there constantly has to something posted every minute.
  • @heezsafe, now that you mentioned Ghostery, back in my MW days I was also running Ghostery. The numbers were in the twenties when I was on MW, even on the forums.
  • I dunno if they get paid or not but it sure makes the price of Professor Snowballs monthly commentary, whether one thinks it's too lengthy or not, look like quite the steal don't you think?
  • what is a good online source for info since marketwatch is not in that category
  • @varmint, you are on it. Granted there are no news feeds here but you can get those off Yahoo or a multitude of other sites. Bloomberg is a decent site.

    @Mark, Spot on. Mr. Snowball's commentaries are an excellent value.
  • edited August 2014
    @JohnChisum. [Perhaps we should avoid linking to such articles, since linkage helps circulate suspect articles.] (David's edit)

    Oh well...
  • @varmint " what is a good online source for info since marketwatch is not in that category " That's just not true, MarketWatch is an excellent source for investing information. It's owned by Dow Jones which offers in addition to Marketwatch, WSJ, Barron's, Smart Money.

    Regards,
    Ted
  • Being owned by Dow Jones makes it excellent? That koolaid is some powerful stuff.
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