Lowell Herr | ITA Wealth Management

Gounod’s Messe solennelle de Sainte Cecile

July 13, 2014 By Lowell Herr

Gounod’s “Messe solennelle en l’honneur de Sainte Cecile” contains some of the most beautiful music one might ever want to hear. My favorite selections from this masterpiece are Sanctus and Benedictus, cuts five and six. I first heard Sanctus in the early 1950s when my parents brought home

“Markowitz” Projections During Great Recession

July 10, 2014 By Lowell Herr

Readers who have been following the discussion on future return projections will find the following information of interest. Using the Hoadley “Efficient Frontier” software, I set out to see what the optimal projections would be for three different time periods. In each case I selected two years of historical data

Basic Portfolio and Current ETF Rankings

June 21, 2014 By Lowell Herr

The following data table includes the latest ETF rankings for 20 basic ETFs and the Buy-Hold-Sell recommendations. GLD is the only ETF under-performing SHY so I would avoid gold as an investment. ETF Rankings: The overall strength of this market is illustrated by the fact that not one of

Risk Parity: A Brief Explanation of How Risky a 60/40 Portfolio Really Is

June 13, 2014 By Lowell Herr

This is a follow-up to the HedgeHunter Risk Parity (RP) post. This blog post will give readers an overview of how RP is calculated. This not for the mathematically squeamish, but the concept is not difficult if

Music of Alison Krauss

May 25, 2014 By Lowell Herr

Instead of recommending a particular CD, this week I focus on the artist, Alison Krauss. As a late bloomer when it comes to many genres of music, I first heard Ms. Krauss in a few songs from the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou?

What the Experts Say About Index Investing

May 2, 2014 By Lowell Herr

Perusing the Bogleheads web site, I found this long list of quotes from well known investment writers and managers. Here is what they have to say about index investing. These bits of wisdom further explain why I favor tilting investments toward non-managed index vehicles. Further, I

The High Cost of Fees

April 21, 2014 By Lowell Herr

High fees are to be avoided, particularly management fees. Readers of ITA Wealth Management are well aware of my propensity to keep fees to a minimum and that is why I place so much emphasis on using commission free ETFs. While most of you

Bach’s St. John Passion

April 20, 2014 By Lowell Herr

While Bach is well known for his St. Matthew Passion music, in some ways I prefer his St. John Passion compositions so here is my recommendation for the week. I usually include a review from Amazon as most reviewers have a better knowledge of music than I do.