| As an investor you will want to checkout any equity | | | | November and very few at other times during |
| before you buy it. Many investorsgo to Morningstar | | | | theyear. |
| which is one of the largestproviders of mutual fund | | | | Some nitpicker called the SEC and madea complaint |
| information in the world. | | | | about Morningstar. Not that I am a bigfan of them (in |
| It is assumed that their information is correct. | | | | fact I think their reports areworthless) they get their |
| After all that is what you are paying for. | | | | price information fromother sources such as the |
| Recently the SEC (Securities and | | | | above. If you are notfamiliar with the requirement of |
| Exchange Commission) called them on the carpet | | | | mutual funds todisburse their profit before year end |
| fornot correcting an error within a reasonable time | | | | you might befooled when you see the price suddenly |
| (whatever that is according to the SEC). | | | | drop. |
| Everyonemakes errors and this was no big deal. | | | | This is important for potentialinvestors. I caution |
| It seems that when you went to theirsite and drew | | | | everyone to get a chart onthe Internet of at least a |
| up a chart or asked for statisticson Rock Canyon | | | | one year performance ofany mutual fund before |
| Top Flight mutual fund it failed tonotify the potential | | | | buying. It is better to goback to year 2000 to see if |
| buyer that the fund hadissued a very large dividend | | | | the fund manager wasable to keep from losing |
| of approximately 25%and the NAV (Net Asset | | | | money during the last 4years. Almost none of them |
| Value) dropped from $15 to | | | | could so they bamboozleabout how they did better |
| $11 to reflect the $4.00 dividend. | | | | than the S&P500 Indexwhich had a huge loss of |
| When you ask for a chart of this fundon | | | | 50% and remains down 25%from those highs at this |
| MarketWatch, Yahoo, TheStreet or Bloomberg | | | | time. Don't fall for thatone. |
| theyonly post the NAV and do not make any | | | | Once again I caution that any purchaseshould have |
| adjustmentfor the dividend or capital gains | | | | an exit plan. One of the basic rulesof investing is |
| distributions. | | | | never to lose a lot if you arewrong. Small losses will |
| Looking at the chart it appears the fund fell outof | | | | not ruin your portfolio,but big losses can ruin your |
| bed. Because I look at so many charts I | | | | retirement. Set yourloss limit (5%, 10% or ?) and |
| knewimmediately that this was a distribution and | | | | stick with it. |
| notsome calamity. It is best to call the fund toverify | | | | Charts can help you withbuying/selling decisions, but |
| this. | | | | check out theiraccuracy as charting is not an exact |
| Most funds that make dividend and capital | | | | science. |
| gainsdistributions usually do so in December, some in | | | | |