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Journalist and TV commentator Andy Rooney took an acerbic view of much of American life.

I recently read a Time Magazine article which helps answer a question you may have asked yourself after discussing weight loss with friends. Chances are you’ve found that one person was able to lose weight by avoiding between meal snacks, another by eating smaller portions, a third, through regular exercise.

How mature is the average eight-year old? Thinking about myself, the answer was ‘not very’ but the stock market (as measured by the Standard and Poors 500 index) has been climbing since reaching bottom on March 8th, 2009.

I think most college students will agree that going off to school may involve some fun but it's basically going to be their job for at least a few years. That said, borrowing today's title from the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs seems appropriate since it's the song the dwarfs sing as they head out to work at the mine.

This article was first published May, 2013

Fortune magazine recently published an excerpt from a new Bernie Madoff book.

Of course I’m speaking of fiduciary, a word that has been largely unknown in the investment world until the past several months.

An attorney friend calls a fiduciary relationship one of working on behalf of a client ‘in utmost good faith’.

According to the website BrainyQuote, the famously reclusive Howard Hughes coined the phrase Money can't buy happiness. In reading about his life of producing movies, racing airplanes and dating glamorous women, I note very few times when he did, in fact, seem to have lived happily.

Since I’m on the leading edge of the Baby Boom generation, the Beatles have been an influence on my life for more than half a century. During their touring years, the least flamboyant of them was George Harrison, the lead guitarist and contributor of one song per album. After the band members went their separate ways, he became better known as a songwriter.

Many great fortunes have been made by purchasing the right stock at the right time but the risk inherent in the stock market means that there will always be a role for bonds to play.

Hedge funds are periodically in the news, so let’s shine a light into that corner of the market beginning with a definition. When used as a verb, hedge means to limit or qualify (something) by conditions or exceptions. Since we know that a fund is a pooled investment strategy, we can see that a hedge fund is a pooled investment used to limit risk.