Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, are the most efficient vehicle yet devised to harness the returns of stock and bond indexes. They capture nearly all of the underlying assets' returns with little or no leaks of taxes, expenses, or under-performance.

It was a stormy week for stocks and bonds as indexes were rocked by the uncertainty of Greece's fate, the near-$4 trillion rout of Chinese stocks, the hours-long halt on the NY Stock Exchange, grounded United Airlines planes, and tumbling oil industry shares. With stocks rising and falling 1% to 1.5% in a day, one might easily think that his portfolio was bouncing about in similar fashion.

Practically speaking, the odds of Greece meeting its bailout obligations to the European Union and its credit demands of the IMF and other creditors by June 30th are close to nil. Odds are just as small that enough patience exists on the part of EU...

If you could use only one word to describe the most important thing in investing what would it be? If the question was real estate, you'd quickly say - LOCATION. If eating - healthy, maybe taste, or sport - winning, or sailing - wind, or mechanical motion - friction.