Stupid Investment of the Week

When the Elite Stock Report took $600,000 to do a promotional circular for a tiny gold stock, it lost all credibility. At that point, the best thing that MarketWatch Senior Columnsit Chuck Jaffe can say about the newsletter is that it's the "Stupid Investment of the Week."

When Chuck Jaffe was starting the Stupid Investment of the Week column in 2003, he looked at the Gerber Grow-Up Plan. Recently, he took a fresh look at this insurance plan for kids, and he says it's still ugly.

Many consumers have "get life insurance" on their list of Ne3w Year's resolutions, but clicking on the e-mail pitches being sent by Globe Life and Accident Insurance Co. could result in paying too much for coverage that's ineffective. It's Chuck Jaffe's Stupid Investment of the Week.

While DreamWorks will most likely have a hit on its hands when it releases "Shrek Forever After," MarketWatch Senior Columnist Chuck Jaffe says the stock's 2009 run-up has it poised to disappoint, and he makes it his Stupid Investment of the Week.

Morningstar Mutual Funds has released its annual look at the funds it thinks will do best in the year ahead, but MarketWatch columnist Chuck Jaffe says investors would be ill-advised to look at the list and buy any of the funds.

With gold at all-time highs in the middle of a rally that shows no signs of ending, investors can see the potential in almost any gold stock. MarketWatch Senior Columnist Chuck Jaffe shows why that potential won't be reached with a stock like American Sierra Gold Corp., a mining issue that is his Stupid Investment of the Week.

While investors may fear the falling dollar, picking a currency fund to try to profit from its weakness is a redundant strategy for an average investor. If they have foreign stock or bond funds, chances are they have their currency play. Making things worse would be taking on a bad currency fund, like Morgan Stanley FX Alpha Plus Chuck Jaffe's Stupid Investment of the Week.

AdviserShares has given market prognosticator Harry S. Dent a new crack at running a fund. But with Dent's spotty track record for getting things right -- and his lousy record running a past mutual fund -- MarketWatch senior Columnist Chuck Jaffe wonders why anyone would take a chance on the fund.

Fannie Mae is up 500% since its 52-week low, but MarketWatch Senior Columnist Chuck Jaffe says the stock's fair-market value is zero and that average investors shouldn't be fooled by the rebound.

Ultra-short bond funds are designed to occupy a spot on the risk scale between money-market funds and short-term bond funds, but MarketWatch Senior Columnist Chuck Jaffe says they are really between a rock and a hard place, not as safe as cash investments, not yielding as much as short-term bond investments. That's why he's made the entire category of funds his Stupid Investment of the Week.