Trovena Weblog

Pure Zen Investing

The best part of guiding my clients through the noise of investment decisions is when they have an “Ah Hah” moment. Sometimes a comment of clarity so insightful hits my ears that I have to stop and smile.  I smile not only because I realize I have just helped someone become a more successful investor, but also, they helped me by stating the obvious in such a simple way.

Real Estate Applications

I don't know if you have been shopping for residential real estate lately, but if you have, and you aren't using the Zillow or Trulia mobile apps, you are missing out. (You may also be missing out on some great deals!)

Imagine pulling up in front of any home and instantly accessing photos, price history, comparable recent sales, and contact information. You can do that now on your phone as you cruise your favorite neighborhood. No more calls to realtors or printing sheets of information prior to your drive. It's all right at your fingertips. You can call the realtor after you've narrowed your search considerably.

You may also want to see what zillow.com and trulia.com have to say about your house. If any information is incorrect, you can "claim" your home and update the information. When it comes time to sell, you'll be glad you did it.

- Christopher

Home Buyers Check Out Apps

Smart-Phone Tools Use GPS Technology to Provide Local Housing Information

Just in time for the spring house-hunting season, smart-phone applications that provide information to home buyers are proliferating.

Real-estate firms have long vied to have the most engaging Web site to attract people searching for homes. Now they also feel compelled to have an "app" for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other smart phones. Rather than being moneymakers—brokers tend to offer their apps for free—the apps are seen as a tool to make the home-buying process easier.

Read the rest at WSJ.com ...

The Lesson Learned

This is a nice article by Mr. Zweig who says that bubbles don't do much for investors but have latent benefits for the economy. The one thing I take from this is that the thing to do with any bubble asset (Be it tech stocks, real estate, or bonds perhaps) is to sell it using a systematic, disciplined re-balancing investment process. Simple as that. 

- Christopher

Ten years ago, investors knew that technology would change the world, and they were right. But you can be 100% right about the future and end up with zero to show for it if you overpay in the first place.

When Bubble Burst: Companies Won, Investors Lost

On March 10, 2000, the Nasdaq Composite index closed at a record of 5048.62, up 24% since the beginning of the year, after an 86

% gain in 1999. And many were calling for the Nasdaq to hit 6000 within a year or two.

It closed Tuesday at 2340.68.

What went wrong? Looking back with 20-20 hindsight, you might think that millions of investors had gone insane. Americans in every walk of life—barbers, taxi drivers, waiters, air-traffic controllers—were convinced that they could get rich quick by trading Internet stocks.

Read the full WSJ article "When the Bubble Burst" »