Knowing when to sell your mutual funds is just as important as buying good funds in the first place. There are four specific criteria that tell you it's time to sell. Unfortunately, even when investors understand the theory of why they should sell, too often they still fail to act — because of fear, lack of confidence, or simple inattention. To encourage a tough-minded look at your current holdings, we've studied thousands of funds and present a "Laggards List" of more than 950 that should be replaced without delay.

This has been as rough a stretch as we've seen in quite a while for our Upgrading methodology. Did the Upgrading strategy go wrong somewhere? The answer is, "No."

Sitting on the sidelines and waiting until the worst is over? Our time-tested "all-clear" signal will help you know when the market has reached a turning point.

Making investment decisions based on an emotional response to market events could undermine your long-term gains. Here's one way to keep your emotions in check.

The banking industry has been on edge since the mid-summer collapse of three banks overwhelmed by problem loans. If bankers are nervous, should you be, too?

Have a mortgage? There's a sure-fire way to cut its cost over the long term. But first, you may need to change your way of thinking.

Guest columnist and father-of-five Scott Houser has been through the college search-and-selection process five times. If your family is in the college-search mode, Scott's insights may be a real education.