Acknowledgments . . . xii
About the Author . . . xiv
Introduction: Buy-and-Hold: Rest in Peace . . . xv
Chapter 1 Trends Are an Investor's Best Friend . . . 1
Buy-and-Hold's Funeral March . . . 4
Getting in Touch with Your Emotions . . . 7
Never-Ending Opportunities . . . 9
Chapter 2 Risk and Disaster Don't Have to Go Hand-in-Hand . . . 11
Greed and Fear and Stocks, Oh My! . . . 12
Running Scared . . . 13
What Kind of Risk Level Can You Tolerate? . . .14
Types of Risk . . . 16
Staying Grounded . . . 17
Is Time on Your Side? . . . 17
The Go-Getter (Aggressive) . . . 17
The In-Betweener (Somewhat Less Aggressive) . . . 18
The Almost There (Moderately Conservative) . . . 18
The I'm Outta Here (Conservative) . . . 18
Chapter 3 Spotting Trends . . . 23
Tools of the Trade . . . 23
Learning to Identify Trends . . . 24
The Rules of the Game . . . 25
Understanding the Moving Average . . . 26
Exiting Safely and Profitably . . . 27
Avoiding a Bursting Bubble . . . 29
Learning to Live with "the Sell" . . . 29
Finding the Trends . . . 30
Up, Down, and Flat as a Pancake . . . 31
Timing Is Everything . . . 35
Chapter 4 Why Trend Following Can't Be Beat . . . 39
Never Look Back . . . 42
What Happens After You Sell? . . . 43
Conquer Volatility, Don't Let It Conquer You . . . 44
Do You Have Any Better Ideas? . . . 44
Buy-and-Hold: Does It Work Like It Should? . . . 45
Where That Leaves Us . . . 46
Chapter 5 The Nuts and Bolts of ETFs . . . 49
Why ETFs Are a Better Solution . . . 50
A Fast-Growing Industry . . . 53
Evaluating ETFs . . . 54
Employing ETFs . . . 56
Chapter 6 Tools You Can Use . . . 61
News . . . 61
Analysis . . . 62
Looking Under the Hood . . . 63
Charting . . . 64
Chapter 7 Navigating U.S. Markets . . . 65
Choices Galore . . . 66
Dow Jones Industrial Average . . . 67
The S&P 500 . . . 69
Russell Mid-Cap Index . . . 70
The Russell 2000 . . . 70
Growth Versus Value . . . 72
Value: Slower but Steadier . . . 72
Trends in Value and Growth . . . 73
Domestic Market ETFs . . . 74
Digging in Even Deeper . . . 75
Chapter 8 International Opportunities . . . 77
The Land of the Rising Sun...and Profits . . . 79
The Beginning of the End . . . 80
Emerging Markets . . . 82
China's Dragon . . . 84
Investing in Emerging Economies . . . 86
Another BRIC in the Wall . . . 87
International ETFs . . . 88
Developed Markets . . . 89
Emerging Markets . . . 90
Chapter 9 The Best-Looking Sector in the Room . . . 93
Technology: High Highs and Lower Lows . . . 95
The Bubble Springs a Leak . . . 96
Passing Around Blame . . . 98
One Big Financial Mess . . . 99
The Beginning of the Global Crisis . . . 100
Sector-Specific ETFs . . . 101
Power Up with Utility ETFs . . . 103
Checking Up on Healthcare ETFs . . . 104
Banking on Financials . . . 104
Chapter 10 The Luster of Gold and Crude . . . 107
Oil: A Slippery, Yet Profitable Slope . . . 110
Turning Trends into Profits . . . 113
Owning Your Share of Commodities . . . 114
Agriculture . . . 116
Energy . . . 117
Metals (Precious, Base, and Industrial) . . . 118
Broad-Based Commodity ETFs . . . 119
Going the Roundabout Way . . . 120
South Africa. . . 120
Chile. . . 121
Russia. . . 121
Australia. . . 121
Commodities: A Valuable Part of Your Portfolio . . . 122
Chapter 11 The World of Currencies . . . 123
Monitoring the Ups and Downs of Money . . . 123
A Rocky Road for the U.S. Dollar . . .124
Citizens Suffer . . . 124
The Dollar Bucks Its Trend-Will It Last? . . . 126
Making the Most Out of Currency ETFs . . .129
Squeezing the Most from Your Dollars . . . 131
Chapter 12 Trends in Fixed Income . . . 133
Factors to Consider . . . 137
The Yield Curve . . . 139
Recent Trends Spotted . . . 141
Taxes and Municipal Bond Trends . . . 142
High-Yield Opportunity . . . 144
Fixed-Income ETFs . . . 144
Who Wants Bonds? . . . 146
How to Choose Bond ETFs . . . 147
Chapter 13 Getting Leverage in the Markets . . . 149
The Long and Short of ETFs . . . 150
Pumping Up Returns . . . 154
Chapter 14 Conclusion: Let's Get to Work . . . 159
Switching from Mutual Funds to ETFs . . . 161
Working with Your Advisor . . . 162
Wrap-Up . . . 164
Glossary . . . 165
References and Resources . . . 181
References . . . 181
Resources . . . 197
Books . . . 197
Services . . . 198
Index . . . 199
