"Dissecting the decline" in the October issue of US Financial Planning magazine, asks whether indices actually tell us how the overall US equity market is performing, and suggests a measure called the "share-weighted return" more accurately measures market pulse.

This is an absolute must read article. Bob reports on the presentation by Donald Ratajczak, former chairperson of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, on the outlook for the US economy, particularly the potential for a "double-dip" recession. Other issues addressed by Ratajczak; Is the bubble burst like Japan's? What about energy prices? Are stocks overpriced? Is deflation on the horizon?

Most researchers try to categorise equity managers or stocks in either growth or value, but Investors Mutual believes many grey areas exist...

In "After the bubble" in the September issue of US Financial Planning magazine, author Jeremy Siegel notes that stocks are worthy of higher than current valuations and that the equilibrium level of the S&P500 should be somewhere between 800 and 1000.

Hedging international equity investments against currency movements is a widespread practice among super funds, but what hedging ratio should funds aim for? With the $A on the rise, this may well become one of 2003's big questions. Investor Weekly's Kate Mills reports.