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Technology Stocks : Network Associates (NET) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (4080)	1/23/1999 11:34:00 PM
From: AlienTech	Respond to of 6021

Did you hear about the new AMEX index based options? They split up the S&P into 8 or so different sectors and you can buy shares in them. Much better than the full index fund and much safer than individual stocks.

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (4080)	1/24/1999 12:16:00 AM
From: Joanna Tsang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6021

DON'T buy mutual funds! You can do a lot better with individual stocks. If you buy a dozen big cap stocks like LU, IBM, TYC etc. you can effectively set up your own fund without paying the fund managers for their expenses. And if you don't churn the account you will be doing much better than they do. Yes, EXCEPT the fund I've quoted is a no load INDEX fund! My limited understanding of mutual funds tells me that index funds doesn't have a fund manager. It follows an index. (In this case, the index is the Wilshire 5000 Index, which the S&P 500 Index is part of. Very low rates...$10 a year (waived if the account has $10K or over.) Here's what I'm looking at... majestic.vanguard.com I do agree that MANAGED funds are crappy and I'm better off buying my own big cap stocks and letting it sit. But this one seems to perform pretty well consistently and the expense is pretty low (NADA if I have $10K or over to invest.) Tell me what you think... Cheers, Joanna

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (4080)	1/24/1999 5:24:00 PM
From: Kenny	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6021

Chuzzlewit, Recently, I've developed somewhat of an interest in NETA, and I dropped in to monitor the discussion. I happened to catch your post on mutual funds, and I thought I would take a moment to second your opinion. I agree wholeheartedly. Individual stocks are the way to go. They are infinitely more rewarding than investing by category. I think one would find that most broadly-based growth/value fund managers statistically clone their portfolios to the S&P 500 Index. They charge an internal management fee on the average of 1.5 percent of the portfolio value, and, because of their distribution contracts, most turnover their holdings around 150 percent annually---which can create a painful capital gains tax at the year's end. In fact, every year, 9 out of 10 funds underperform the S&P 500. Why? Because they perform approximately in-line with the index, less the fees and expenses. I could go on . . . suffice to say, mutual funds are for those who don't yet have the wherewithal to diversify into, say, 10 - 15 stocks. For these individuals, a mutual fund is a great concept. However, once one can move beyond the funds, one absolutely should. Otherwise, the mutual fund companies will be making more money because of you, but you won't be making more because of them. You are a very insightful chap. Best of luck to you! Kenny PS If one doesn't have the background to research and analyze companies, one ought to go the index fund route.