Of the more than 8,000 mutual funds in existence, only a handful are worthy of consideration for your investment options. The majority are just closet index funds masquerading as something unique. But there is a growing segment of the investment industry that has overtaken mutual funds and they are ETFs. ETFs have caught on in a big way. So big, that this month I am adding nine to my Monster Master List. With these additions, you can now construct a diversified ETF-only portfolio. Along with the ETFs I have one new stock, and four A-rated Preferreds to help you avoid the leveraged buyout industry taking over many BBB-rated firms. Plus, I have changed the layout for my issue to include a full two-page update of my Top Ten Countdown stocks. I’ve also added my What’s Up & What’s Down column to the main issue. I believe you’ll find these enhancements very informative and useful. Make it a good month!

Tags: Alexander, Alico, American Express, assets, Australia, Baldwin, barclays, Barrick Gold, benchmard, BHP Billiton, capital gains, citigroup, Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund, ETFs, Federated Investors, GE Capital, income tax, iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund, iShares MSCI EAFE Value Index Fund, iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund, iShares MSCI Sweden, iShares S&P Global Materials Sector Index Fund, Jardine Matheson, johnson & johnson, land, Market Vectors Gold Miners, Market Vectors Russia ETF, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Nazis, Newmont Mining, Nomura Small Cap Japan, Norilsk Nickel, Plum Creek, Precious Metals & Mining, Preferreds, rifle, Rio Tinto, Southwest Water, SPDR DJ Wilshire International Real Estate, SPDR Russell, St. Joe, Sweden, Swiss, Switzerland, Tiffany, Unilever, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, Vanguard Value ETF, Wells Fargo, Whole foods

How should you improve your returns in the current low-growth environment? Take a look at this month’s Economic Analysis and review the year-to-date returns. This will help you understand what you’re going to need to profit from this market. With new money your focus should be on alternatives to the weak U.S. dollar. There are two components to this approach–precious metals and currency investment. I have long been an advocate for precious metals. In this month’s issue, I give you an overview of some of my top choices for foreign currency funds and four of the six countries that I feel are your best options. I also have a detailed rundown on my Top 10 Countdown along with some of our other Master Monster List stocks. Make it a good month.

Tags: aber diamond, Alcan, Alpha Natural Resources, American Express, Argentina, Australia, Big Mac, Black Hills, Bombardier, British Petroleum, Canada, citigroup, counterbalancing, Credit Suisse, currency, Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund, Federated Investors, Fidelity Canada, Fidelity International real Estate, Ford, Garmin, General Dynamics, harley-davidson, Imus, income tax, inference, iShares Australia, Japan, Jardine Matheson, johnson & johnson, NBC, Newmont Mining, Obama, Pepsi Bottling, Plum Creek, Precious Metals & Mining, reading, ruger, Russia, Singapore, Sturm, Switzerland, Syngenta, T. Rowe Price Emerging Europe & Mediterranean Fund, T. Rowe Price Japan, Tiffany, tort reform, United Kingdom, vanguard

“Walk, Don’t Run” as recorded by Johnny Smith and also by the Ventures was a seminal rock and roll classic, and it is a great approach to start out your lifetime financial plan. Take it slow and easy. I can get you started with this approach with some “retirement arithmetic.” It will help you sort out your financial options. Also, I review my reasons for continuing to invest in gold and why you should do the same. Along with those gems, I have two new preferreds for the fixed-income portions of your portfolios. And I give you updates on many of my Monster Master List Stocks. Make it a good month.

Tags: AA, Alcoa, American Century Global Gold, American Express, Australia, AXP, BA, Berkshire Hathaway, BlackRock Enhanced Dividend Achievers, BlackRock Global Opportunities, Boeing, BRKb, C, China, citigroup, DIS, Disney, Dow Diamonds Trust, FAL, Falconbridge, GE, general electric, gold, Hong Kong, Inco, inflation, iShares, JNJ, JOE, johnson & johnson, Marvel, Microsoft, MSFT, MVL, N, purchasing power parity, Royal bank of Scotland, Singapore, St. Joe, streetTracks Gold Shares, Third Avenue Real Estate Value, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Vanguard Short Term Investment Grade, Vangurad GNMA

There’s no doubt in my mind that the world’s greatest and most successful rock and roll band is the Rolling Stones. However, this success would not have been possible without an enormous amount of focus and patience by the band. Focus and patience are what this issue is all about. What are you doing to make sure your portfolio maximizes its compound interest and dividends? This month, I provide some options to help you stay on point. Also, I revisit a few funds that you need to increase your holdings in, as well as introduce two new funds and three new stocks that I believe should be a part of your portfolio. Read this month’s issue for all the exciting details. Make it a good month.

Tags: ABER, aber diamond, ABX, American Century Global Gold, Australia, Barrick, Ben Grahm, Blackrock Enhanced Fund, Canadian General Investments, CAT, Caterpillar, Century Bank, Chemistry and Synergy, China, coca-Cola, diamonds, DIS, Disney, dividends, FAL, Falconbridge, Federated Investors, FII, FLEX, Flextronics, GE, general electric, harley-davidson, HDI, Hong Kong, Inco, iShares, iShares Goldman Sachs Natural resources Index fund, J.M. Smucker, Janus Fund, JOE, KO, Marvel, MVL, N, Norfolk Southern, NSC, Oak family funds, PDG, PEP, Pepsico, Placer Dome, power investing, presidential cycle, quadrennial theory, RGR, Rio Tinto, RTP, ruger, Singapore, SJM, St. Joe, streetTracks Gold Shares, Sturm, T. Rowe Price, T.Rowe price Dividend Growth, Third Avenue International Value, Third Avenue Small-cap value, TimberWest Forest, TROW, Union Pacific, United technologies, UNP, UTX, Vanguard GNMA, Vanguard Growth & Income, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Warren Buffett, WFMI, Whole foolds

It’s all about the oil. This month’s issue focuses on the United States’` dependency on oil and what this means for our investments. I offer four powerful considerations for you to factor into your investment thinking and a number of ways to protect your investments over the long-term. The strongest way to protect yourself is to invest in the companies that are part of our alternative energy future, such as the four new utility companies I want you to add to your portfolios this month. Plus, there are a few blue chips making bets on alternative energy and energy efficiency that are buys as well. Be sure to read this important issue!

Tags: <prgan Stanley trust Preferred VI, Archstone-Smith, ASN, Australia, BHP, BHP Billiton, BP, British Petroleum, Canadian General Investments, CIN, Cinergy, Delta & Pine Land, DLP, EQR, Equity residential, Fidelity International real Estate, FPL, FPL group, GE, general electric, harley-davidson, HDI, Hong Kong, Income Fund, India, iShares Singapore, mcCormick, MKC, Norfolk Southern, NSC, oil, PCL, PII, PIMCO real Commodity return, Plum Creek, Polaris, PSD, Puget Energy, Rayonier, RD, rio trinto, Royal Dutch, RTP, RYN, time warner, TWX, Union Pacific, UNP, Vanguard Precious Metals & Mining, Vanguard Wellesley, Xcel energy, XEL

The experts say…”stratospheric oil prices are here to stay and the housing bubble will not burst.” I disagree, and I give you the reasons why for both of these topics. I also discuss hedge funds, the US$ and a slowing world economy, but there still is a lot to be enthusiastic about. This month’s issue is loaded with great opportunities for you in funds (new and old friends), gold and stocks that should capture your attention. All of these stocks and funds connect to my Big Ideas and the impact of China’s growth on the world economy. I also have 2 stocks that I want you to sell and a merger that I want you to buy. I have also added 16 new charts to my Economic Analysis to help you understand what is going on in the world. The August issue is filled with great opportunities for you. This will be the issue that helps you overcome the inertia and take action.

Tags: Alan Greenspan, Alberto Gonzales, Alliance Resource Partners, ARLP, Australia, automobile, BAC, Bank of America, BEGRX, Bernanke, BHP, BHP Billiton, Brazil, CAG, Cameco Corp., Canadian General Investments, cars, CAT, CAtellus, Caterpillar, CCJ, CGi.to, ChevronTexaco (CVX), China, China National Offshore Oil Corp., Christopher Cox, CNOOC, coal, Codelco, commodity, ConAgra, copper, currency reserves, drought, energy, Europe, ExxonMobil, FAL.TO, Falconbridge, Fed, Federal Reserve, Fidelity, Fiduciary/Claymore MLP Opportunity Fund, FL.TO, Florida, FMO, Franklin Mutual Series Beacon, Franklin Mutual Series Qualified, Franklin Mutual Series Shares, gas, GDP, Germany, global warming, gold, gold Panda, harley-davidson, HDI, hedge fund, Hong Kong, housing, hurricane, India, JALSX, Janus Fund, Japan, JOE, Kaz, KL Financial Group, KRB, LCTM, Long-Term Capital Management, Madame Zhang Li Ju, Maine, Martin Feldstein, MBNA, metals, Michael Luttig, Middle East, Milton Friedman, mining, missiles, mortgages, MQIFX, MUTHX, natural gas, natural resources, New Zealand, nickel, Noranda, Norilsk, Norway, NRD, oil, Overseas-China Bank, PandaAmerica, PCL, PLD, Plum Creek, Precious Metals & Mining Fund, PRNEX, Prologis, R. Glen Hubbard, real estate, Renaissance Technologies, RiverTown, Russia, Sandra Day O'Connor, SEC, Singapore, South Africa, St. Joe, T. Rowe Price New Era Fund, TAREX, TAVFX, TAVIX, Third Avenue International Value Fund, Third Avenue Real Estate Value Fund, Third Avenue Value Fund, TOPP, Topps, Univision, uranium, vanguard, VGPMX, water, Weimar Republic, Wintergreen Fund, WMC, WMC Resources, XOM