My post the other day about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) generated a lot of interest among readers, both in the U.S. and abroad. In concluding that FATCA wouldn’t have a material effect on the value of the dollar or the U.S. economy, I was addressing a fairly restricted set of circumstances. Given the depth of interest in this topic, and the fact that the law does have serious implications—just not for the dollar—let’s dig in a bit more.

I ended last week on a note of shared sacrifice. This week, let’s talk about some of the forms that sacrifice will likely take.

In order to take advantage of some new capabilities and streamlined efficiencies here at Commonwealth, my friends in the Marketing department tell me that my blog will be moving to a new address, http://blog.commonwealth.com/independent-market-observer, effective June 2, 2014.

One of the joys of being a father is explaining to Jackson things that I, as an adult, take for granted. Today, we’ve been talking about Memorial Day—not as the start of summer but as a time to remember those who have died so we can live in freedom.

I’m at the J.P. Morgan Research Summit today. Yesterday’s sessions were excellent, and one discussion seemed particularly applicable in light of my recent posts on moving averages.

For the past two days, I’ve focused on moving averages—specifically, how investors can use them as warning signals and how they work to manage risk. Today, we’ll talk about their potential costs and drawbacks, which are common to any type of risk management program.

On the topic of using moving averages to avoid risk, one question I often get is, What actually would have happened over the past couple of decades? Everyone has an interest in avoiding a 2000 or 2008, but everyone also knows that market timing doesn’t work.

Check out Brad’s May 20 interview on CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange, where he offers his thoughts on recent U.S. equity market growth and Treasuries.

One of the major causes of stock market losses is unforeseen declines that make people sell out—often at the worst time. This is one of the reasons I’ve focused much of my recent research on using drawdown (instead of return variance) as a measure of risk. In my opinion, it provides a better metric for real-world investment performance.

The first question you might have, upon seeing that headline, is what’s the difference? Data is simply facts, without meaning or context. Information can be used as a basis to make decisions; it can be acted on.