Balancing effect of stocks and bonds can help your portfolio By Matt Krantz, USA TODAY Updated Q: When stocks drop, does the value of bonds increase and vice versa?ThinkstockSponsored LinksA: Bonds issued by the U.S. government and stocks have a teeter-totter relationship: When one goes up, the other tends to go down. But think of this teeter-totter being made out of rubber, not wood or steel, because how much they move opposite each other varies widely.Statistics prove that stocks and Treasuries march to the beat of different trends. Over the past 120 days, the Vanguard Standard & Poor's 500 ETF (VOO) and the Vanguard Bond ETF (BND) have had a negative correlation with each other of -0.42. The Vanguard Bond ETF holds many types of ... Continue reading →

A: Stock pickers have all sorts of techniques to find winners.Some study stock charts. Others examine a company's fundamentals such as revenue growth and profitability. Yet others consider macro economic factors such as competition and market share.What you're suggesting, going on your gut feel to pick a stock, is yet another approach to choosing stocks. Going on one's emotional instinct to choose an investment is probably more common among professionals than they'd like to admit. Peter Lynch, famed former money manager at Fidelity's Magellan mutual fund, often told investors to buy what they know, meaning to invest in companies that make products or offer services that you're acquainted with.Choosing stocks on gut feel makes intuitive sense to many investors. After all, if you are paying ... Continue reading →

IRVINE, Calif. – Vizio is no stranger to defying the odds.The once little-known company came from practically nowhere to become one of the USA's biggest TV makers, wresting the title from the top electronics companies, including Sony. Its co-founder and CEO survived a plane crash more than a decade ago.But now the company is making a move some say is so daring, it's almost crazy: taking on the world's biggest PC makers — including Apple.Consumers don't have to wait long to see Vizio launch what could be one of the biggest disruptions to the computer business in years. The Irvine, Calif.-based company, located in an area between Los Angeles and San Diego, down the road from a Christmas tree farm, plans next month to launch ... Continue reading →

Facebook shares tumble below IPO price By Matt Krantz, USA TODAY Updated Facebook lost a little more face Monday, as its stock fell below its IPO price and forced traders to start focusing on problems not possibilities.Richard Drew, APThe animated facade of the Nasdaq MarketSite announces the Facebook IPO in New York's Times Square on Friday.Richard Drew, APThe animated facade of the Nasdaq MarketSite announces the Facebook IPO in New York's Times Square on Friday.Sponsored Links"There's an expectation that IPOs are going to pop and there will be a nice run," says Fuad Ahmed, CEO of online brokerage Just2Trade. "You're not seeing that."Shares of the world's No. 1 social-networking site dropped below the $38-a-share offering price, a financial fat lip more typical of marginal companies ... Continue reading →

How to find out who is unloading shares of an IPO By Matt Krantz, USA TODAY Updated Q: How can investors find out who owns the biggest chunk of a company that's having an IPO?Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty ImagesFacebook co-founder Mark Zukerberg is seen on a screen in Times Square in New York as he is getting ready to ring the NASDAQ stock exchange opening bell.Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty ImagesFacebook co-founder Mark Zukerberg is seen on a screen in Times Square in New York as he is getting ready to ring the NASDAQ stock exchange opening bell.Sponsored LinksA: When you buy shares of an IPO, you're buying them from someone else. It's a good idea to know who is unloading the shares, and who will be owning ... Continue reading →

Facebook tumbles below IPO price NEW YORK (AP) – Facebook's stock is tumbling well below its $38 IPO price in the social network's second day of trading as a public company on Monday. Shares are down 11% in late morning trading.Richard Drew, APThe animated facade of the Nasdaq MarketSite announces the Facebook IPO in New York's Times Square on Friday.Richard Drew, APThe animated facade of the Nasdaq MarketSite announces the Facebook IPO in New York's Times Square on Friday.Sponsored LinksInvestors and technology industry watchers are closely tracking the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company's shares. The world's largest online social network was one of the most anticipated initial public stock offerings ever, and now serves as a bellwether for other social media companies.Facebook's market debut Friday suffered ... Continue reading →