In today's Wall Street Journal, an article titled, "Design Challenge: How to Make Stocks Safer for Older Investors" profiled so-called "safe stock" investments.

The article focuses on stock-based investments that guarantee upside plus protection. The last I checked, that doesn't pan out. The Journal likens this to alchemy. I say it's trying to have your cake and eat it too.

One of the reasons

"Is now a good time to invest?"

"Should I sell everything and buy CDs?"

"What should I do to protect my retirement?"

I'm getting these kind of questions from my clients and colleagues. They are rightfully concerned.

As I've been saying for a while now, market downs are to be expected. In fact, with a thoughtful investment strategy, market downs provide buying opportunities. But don't lunge into the

As you probably already know, the stock market has been particularly bumpy for the last 6 months. And, seemingly, the bumpiness has been going in the wrong direction! Year to date, as of October 2, 2008, the S & P Index (a proxy for the US stock market as a whole) has declined 22.87% (Source: Morningstar).

I have news for you. Declines are normal. So are rises. Investing successfully requires

It's officially launch time! The Basic 10 Minute Investing System includes:

10 Minute Investing Strategies: The 3 Step Plan To Create Your Wealth In 10 Minutes A Year

Manual - reveals powerful investing fundamentals the Pros use, the 3 step wealth creation process, BestFit strategy selection, and 15 investing strategies.

Workbook/Action Guide - use this guide along side the 10 Minute Investing

I came across another brilliant posting from Dan Solin in the Huffington Post advocating investment industry reform. I'm a big fan of Dan's and we agree about the power of passive investing.

The net net: It's high time that the financial services industry be taken to task about the excessive fees they charge to 401(k) plans - most costs trickling down to the individual employee - and most of them

Dan Solin has posted an excellent blog challenging two commonly-held beliefs for many investors. They are that actively managed funds will perform better now that the market is on the downside of the inevitable rollercoaster and that you should switch to a more conservative portfolio as you get older. He busts these myths with facts.

Read the details here:

Here's some email correspondence between Errold F. Moody and me. For those of you who are not yet familiar with Errold, he's a financial planner, investment advisor, expert witness, an authentic advocate of investors and someone whom I think highly of. He's written a very good book, "No Nonsense Finance." I've recently asked him to conduct a review of my upcoming manual, 10 Minute Investment