Timber Values Up While Index Falls

This interesting Wall Street Journal story appearing in today's editions looks at timber markets. It notes that while the S&P's paper and forest index has lost more than the S&P 500 in the past 52 weeks, values are actually going up for timber products and land.

New valuation metrics are coming, too, which figure to lift prices more, according to the article.

You can read the story here. 

Mutual Fund Managers Deleveraging?

This Wall Street Journal story notes that many active managers are stepping back from 130/30-styled funds. They're also apparently reducing exposure to anything related to inverse as well as leveraged indexes to help their overall portfolios.

You can read the story here.

The Futility Of Forecasting Markets

In his latest column, the Wall Street Journal's Jason Zweig provides his own unique take on how difficult the prediction game is, including noting that the paper's sister Barron's pool of experts last year missed their marks by a mile. 

You can read the story here.

Reviewing Risks Of ETNs

In a wide-ranging review of exchange-traded notes, Morningstar's Bradley Kay takes a look at whether investors should be concerned about the failing earnings of many big issuers of the notes. 

You can read the story here.