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The article discusses how financial market turmoil impacts investment returns, focusing on how to best invest during a financial crisis. Other topics include the importance of buying cheap stocks and diversifying, long term valuation information for stock markets, and information on the relationship between prices and yields of bonds.

The article discusses and presents advice on investing in frontier markets such as Peru and the Philippines that have often been considered too risky by investors. Asha Mehta of Acadian Asset Management says frontier markets have little correlation with each other, and that a group of them poses less risk than a portfolio of emerging-market stocks.

The article focuses on taxation of United States expatriates, stating the U.S. imposes a second tax and disclosure regime on American citizens living abroad, and mentions it isn't always possible to move investments to the U.S. due to concerns of financial institutions of U.S. compliance rules.

The author observes that commodity prices have declined over a two-year period and considers whether the time is right to use commodities for both portfolio diversification and as a hedge against inflation, with details presented about two low-cost exchange-traded funds that specialize in commodities.

The author observes that stocks in Italy are priced inexpensively relative to other European shares and suggests an investment in mutual funds specializing in Italian shares could be a profitable move, with commentary presented from investing professionals Leila Heckman and Edward Smith.

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of closed-end funds.

The author reflects on the financial crisis being experienced by Bear Stearns. He says that a major bond institution could not sell Treasurys for a bit due to the liquidity crisis. He states that successful investing is not easy but can be achieved by buying low and selling high. He says that the U.S. government should step in and provide liquidity to help the ailing financial market.

The article presents advice to individual investors on purchasing municipal bonds. Exchange-traded funds offer a safe route, although individual bonds offer the chance for better gains. General obligation bonds have a better chance of being repaid than revenue bonds, which depend on a specific revenue source. In general bonds issued by states are safer than those issued by cities and towns.

The article presents advice to investors looking for safe investments. Certificates of deposit are available with interest rates up to 4%. Yields on investment-grade corporate bonds are, on average, 2.4 percentage points higher than U.S. government treasury yields. Certain closed-end bond funds also offer attractive valuations.

The article focuses on investing in Treasury inflation-protected securities or TIPS in the U.S. The reaction of investors and financial planners to the increase in consumer prices by seeking haven on TIPS influenced the appreciation of its prices. In effect, the bonds were overvalued. TIPS have a guaranteed real yield on top of its consumer-price index which is affected by inflation. The real yield has dropped to a level that may even lead to a negative return. Investors are also advised to study first the situation before investing in TIPS.

The author discusses Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) as investments. He names Vanguard's Inflation-Protected Securities Index fund and Lehman TIPS iShare exchange-traded fund as the most popular. He advises investors to buy TIPS when they are not in demand and when the real yield offered us over 2%.

The article presents several investment vehicles to consider that could offer good prospects whatever 2008 holds. Quaker Strategic Growth, run by Manu Daftary, is one of the best stock-pickers on Wall Street. The Clough Global Opportunities gives investors worldwide exposure to stocks and bonds. While Eaton Vance Tax Advantaged Dividend Income invests worldwide in solid companies with strong and sustainable dividends.

The article reports on closed-end investment funds offering a discount of 15% or better in the U.S. in December 2007. Market turmoil and tax-loss selling have driven these funds down to these levels. There is $272 billion invested in U.S. closed-end funds. It provides information on closed-end funds.