What the experts say

Are sin stocks safe?

“Vice” stocks in alcohol, tobacco, and casino companies are usually safe havens during recessions, said Ben Steverman in BusinessWeek. “Bad times may force people to cut back spending, the argument goes, but they will set aside cash for their vices and addictions.” Looking back at every recession since the 1970s, these stocks rose an average of 11 percent, while the broader index fell 1.5 percent. “In the current downturn, however, the naughty are still waiting for their reward.” Some alcohol and tobacco stocks have bested the market, but investors in other sinful sectors are losing their shirts. What gives? Some stocks have been punished for their high debt levels or exposure to emerging markets. But it also seems that cost-conscious consumers may have finally decided to “clean up their act.”

The trouble with target funds

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Target-date mutual funds were all the rage these past few years, said Janet Paskin in SmartMoney. “You put all your money into one fund, picked a ‘target’ year for retiring, and let the manager invest it for the decades to come.” But in hindsight it’s clear that many such funds have, er, missed the target. “Most target funds with a retirement date of 2010 were heavily invested in equities,” and as a result they lost as much as 25 percent of their value this year. That has some investors concluding that investing on auto­pilot isn’t such a good idea. In particular, people “in their final working years” might be better off managing their own mix of stocks and bonds or at least sticking with a conservative target-date fund, such as those offered by Wells Fargo or MFS.

Do the cell plan shuffle

“It’s a little-known fact that cell phone carriers will let you swap contracts with another person, no matter whether you have one month or two years remaining on your commitment,” said Bob Tedeschi in The New York Times. The catch: It’s up to you to find someone “who actually wants your contract and the vintage flip phone that came with it.” Fortunately, a few different websites have sprung up to help. Celltradeusa.com and Cellswapper.com will “act as matchmakers” for people looking to trade phones and contracts. Depending on the age of your phone, you may need to sweeten your offer with a cash incentive. “The transaction does involve a sort of hold-your-breath moment”: It’s up to you to orchestrate the change with your carriers, transfer your numbers, and swap phones. The deal also involves a fee—$20 for Celltrade and $25 for Cellswapper. But “for those who feel trapped in a contract, that is a small price to pay for freedom.”