The latest

  • What can this site do for you?

    The book “Muscular Portfolios” provides individual investors with time-tested, long-term investment strategies that deliver great market returns with no fear of crashes. This website gives away the buy-and-sell signals described in the book — absolutely free. See the model portfolios in the menu at right. For data on the portfolios’ better-than-market performance with less than bonds’ volatility, read the FAQ page.

  • Thank you for reading about fintech

    After releasing “Muscular Portfolios” in 2018, I revealed additional secrets of financial technology in 75 StockCharts columns, 15 MarketWatch columns, several AskWoody columns, and 57 issues of the Muscular Portfolios Newsletter. Issue #57 was the final issue of the publication. This website continues to post the rankings of the strongest investment funds — see the model portfolio pages linked to at right. Thanks for your interest! —Brian Livingston

  • The 60/40 portfolio is debunked

    Individual investors have been told for decades, “You should allocate your life savings 60% to stocks and 40% to bonds.” Pundits have repeatedly claimed that a rather large allocation of 40% to bond funds would cushion investors against losses during bear markets in stocks. If that actually worked, it would be great. But it doesn’t. See Newsletter #57.

  • The S&P 500 has lost 9.9% since 2022

    Muscular Portfolios have given investors a much smoother ride than the S&P 500’s bear-market collapse in 2022–2023. (The index subjected investors to a maximum drawdown of 25% last autumn.)  JPMorgan’s Marko Kolanovic — Institutional Investor’s No. 1-rated equity strategist for 10 years in a row — is predicting that the S&P 500 is likely to fall another 20%. See Newsletter #56.

  • Even a 7-year-old beats the market

    It’s always been said that Muscular Portfolios provide better-than-market returns without the agony of the S&P 500’s periodic crashes. Now it turns out that the formulas are so easy that even a 7-year-old girl was able to start managing — by herself — the strategy known as the Papa Bear. See Newsletter #55.

  • How to avoid a flash crash

    A flash crash is a large, sudden drop in the price of an equity index. Despite the unlikely event that such a collapse will affect one of your trades, it’s good to know the secret to sidestepping them — which may save you a chunk of change some time in the future. See Newsletter #54.

  • The market is still bearish

    There are signs that the US and world economies are heading into a global recession. No one can predict whether equities will hit new lows or somehow magically recover. Thankfully, the two Muscular Portfolios are outperforming in the current bear market. See Newsletter #53.

  • More evidence for best day of month

    An independent data-analysis firm provides additional findings that Muscular Portfolios give you slightly better performance if they’re reallocated each month on a particular day. But tuning up a portfolio one or two days before or after also provides good performance. See Newsletter #52.

  • Your account passes the Monte Carlo test

    Monte Carlo analysis shows that a Muscular Portfolio is highly likely to put more money in your pocket than a buy-and-hold of a “vanilla” 60/40 portfolio. See Newsletter #51.

  • An unbroken 50-year track record of gains

    We now have a record going back five decades — with independent confirmation from different data-analysis services. When we stitch together the various time series, we see that the portfolios have outperformed the total return of the S&P 500 for 50 years. See Newsletter #50.