Lightspeed Offers New Commission fee for WebTrader 2012

lightspeed

Lightspeed is one of the discount brokerage which has been rated among the top brokerage by various financial magazine such as Barron, Smart Money, and more. It offers Lightspeed Trader, Lightspeed Gateway, Lightspeed Web Trader, and Lightspeed Forex.

New Commission Fee on 1/15/2012

There will be new commission schedule for Lightspeed WebTrader user on 1/15/2012.

• Lightspeed will eliminate the per-share rate plan. Any customer on per-share rate will be switched to the new per-trade plan.
• Lightspeed will reduce the current per-trade plan from $4.50 per trade to $3.00 per trade.

The new commission will be:

• For equities, $3.00 per trade with 50,000 share maximum order size
• For options, $0.60 per contract ($3.00 minimum commission)

YTD Top Performer Mutual Funds of December 2011

YTD Top Performer Mutual Funds 2011

The year 2011 has been one of the most challenging years for traders and investors to invest in mutual funds. The following article will look into the year to date top performer of each category of Mutual Funds.

The year to date top performers include PIMCO Real Estate Real Return Strategy A, Morgan Stanley Institutional Select Global Infrastructure Portfolio I, PIMCO Extended Duration Institutional, and more.

Note: This list doesn’t include any leveraged funds except on alternative funds category.

The YTD Top Performer Funds of December 2011 include:

• US Stock Funds: 
• PIMCO Real Estate Real Return Strategy A (PETAX)
• FBR Gas Utility Index Investor (GASFX)
• PIMCO StocksPLUS Long Duration Institutional (PSLDX)
• International Stock Funds: 
• Morgan Stanley Institutional Select Global Infrastructure Portfolio I (MTIIX)
• DWS RREEF Global Infrastructure A (TOLLX)
• Morgan Stanley Global Infrastructure B (UTLBX)
• Taxable Bond Funds
• PIMCO Extended Duration Institutional (PEDIX)
• Vanguard Extended Duration Treasury Index Institutional (VEDTX)
• Wasatch-Hoisington US Treasury (WHOSX)
• Municipal Bond Funds: 
• Dupree Taxable Municipal Bond (DUTMX)
• Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Bond Strategy Long Term A (EALTX)
• Oppenheimer AMT-Free Municipals A (OPTAX)
• Balanced Funds: 
• PIMCO Real Income 2029 A (POIAX)
• Federated Muni and Stock Advantage A (FMUAX)
• FBR Balanced I (AFBAX)
• Alternative Funds: 
• ProFunds UltraShort Emerging Markets Inv (UVPIX)
• ProFunds UltraShort Japan Inv (UKPIX)
• Direxion Mthly Emerging Markets Bear 2X (DXESX)

updated on 12/17/2011

Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Open (LZOEX) Fund

Emerging Markets stock fund has been one of the outperformer asset classes of mutual funds for the past 3 years. One of this popular EM equity funds is Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Open (LZOEX) fund. This Lazard fund invests in undervalued emerging market companies. More details about the fund review is described as follow.

Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Open (LZOEX)

The investment objective of Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Open fund is to seek long-term capital appreciation. This equity fund invests mainly in undervalued equity securities of non-U.S. companies located in emerging market countries.

Fund Details

Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Open

• Fund Inception Date: January 8, 1997
• Ticker Symbol: LZOEX (Open Class)
• CUSIP: 52106N764
• Beta (3yr): 1.05
• Rank in category (YTD): 26%
• Category: Diversified Emerging Markets
• Distribution: 1.02%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.49%  
• Net Assets: $ 15.23 billion
• Number of Years Up: 8 years
• Number of Years Down: 5 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 23.00%

Updated on 12/11/2011

Fidelity Growth Company Fund (FDGRX)

Growth Stocks are among the most popular stocks for short term traders and investors. Selecting an individual growth stock may be challenging though. Easiest way to buy these stocks is through buying growth stock mutual fund. These growth stock funds are investing in variety of diversified growth stocks. One of the popular growth stock funds is Fidelity Growth Company fund.

Fidelity Growth Company (FDGRX)

As actively managed fund, this Fidelity Growth Company fund seeks capital appreciation. This stock fund invests mainly in companies’ common stocks with above-average growth potential. The fund may invest in domestic and foreign companies.

Fidelity Growth Company

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 01/17/1983
• Ticker Symbol: FDGRX
• CUSIP: 316200104
• Beta (3yr): 1.00
• Rank in category (YTD): 8%
• Category: Large Growth
• Distribution: 0.00%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.89%  
• Net Assets: $ 38.53 billion
• Number of Years Up: 20 years
• Number of Years Down: 7 years
• Average Duration: 20 years
• Average Maturity: 7 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 36%

Updated on 12/9/2011

Homestead Small Company Fund (HSCSX)

This next fund, Homestead Small Company Fund, is part of small value US stock mutual fund. This fund invests in domestic small companies stocks. It is also part of the best fund by Morningstar and S&P. You can find the details review below.

Homestead Small Company Fund (HSCSX)

This Homestead Small Company Fund objective is to provide capital growth over the long term period. This top rated fund invests in undervalued stocks of promising small companies. This Homestead fund may invest >80% of assets in common stocks of companies whose market capitalization is similar to the market capitalization of companies represented in the Russell 2000 Index.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: March 3, 1998
• Ticker Symbol: HSCSX
• CUSIP: 437769508
• Beta (3yr): 1.20
• Rank in category (YTD): 41%
• Category: Small Blend
• Yield: 0.31%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.89%
• Net Assets: $ 1.3 Billion
• Number of Years Up: 10 years
• Number of Years Down: 3 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 2%

Updated on May 2017

This Homestead fund has been managed by Stuart E. Teach since its inception in March 1998. The annual expense ratio of this fund is 1.17%. The fund is classified in the Small Value category. The dividend yield of this fund is 0.16%. This dividend is distributed annually; the latest distributed dividend was $0.03 in December 2010.

American Funds Investment Company of America Fund (AIVSX)

American Funds Investment Company of America A (AIVSX) Fund is a popular domestic stock mutual fund. This stock fund invests in U.S. stock companies.

As one of the top mutual fund family, American Funds is also one of the most popular funds. One of these popular funds is American Funds Investment Company of America A (AIVSX) fund. This Investment Company of America fund invests mainly in US companies stocks. Details about the fund review can be found below.

American Funds Investment Company of America A (Ticker: AIVSX)

The investment objective of American Funds Investment Company of America fund is to provide long-term capital growth and income. This American Funds fund invests mainly in common stocks, most of which have a history of paying dividends. It may invest small part of assets (<15%) in foreign securities. This large blend stock fund focuses its investment in medium to larger capitalization companies, though it may invest in any capitalization size.

AIVSX Fund Details

Investment Company of America

• Fund Inception Date: 01/02/1934
• Ticker Symbol: AIVSX (Class A)
• CUSIP: 461308108
• Beta (3yr): 0.93
• Rank in category (YTD): 62%
• Category: Large Blend
• Distribution: 1.74%
• Capital Gains: check website
• Expense Ratio: 0.59%  
• Net Assets: $ 85.3 billion
• Number of Years Up: 63 years

T Rowe Price US Large Cap Core Fund (TRULX)

This next US domestic stock fund is one of the new funds offered by T Rowe Price. This T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core fund has been awarded Top Mutual Fund for newcomer category by S&P. Details about the fund’s review can be found below.

T Rowe Price US Large Cap Core (TRULX)

The T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core investment fund objective is to achieve long-term capital growth. This US stock fund typically invests most of the net assets (>80%) in the stocks of large-cap U.S. companies, whose market cap is larger than the median market cap of companies in the Russell 1000 Index. This TRP fund expects to typically invest in approximately 50 to 75 companies.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: June 25, 2009
• Ticker Symbol: TRULX
• CUSIP: 74149R107
• Beta (3yr): N/A
• Rank in category (YTD): 49%
• Category: Large Blend
• Yield: 0.61%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.15%
• Net Assets: $ 43.1 million
• Number of Years Up: 2 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 74%

Updated on 5/26/2012

Jeffrey Rottinghaus is the lead fund manager of this T Rowe Price fund. He has been the manager since its inception in June 26, 2009. Since this fund is new, there is no Morningstar rating yet, but it is recognized as the top S&P mutual fund of 2011. This fund’s dividend yield is 1.07% and is distributed annually. Last year (2010), the dividend was $0.13. The annual expense ratio of this top fund is 1.15% comparable to the average in the Large Blend category (1.14%).