A Textbook Case

In "A Wild Ride," Brooke A. Masters reports that the five weeks from mid-May to mid-June were downright awful. Disconcerted by a series of hawkish speeches by the new Federal Reserve Board chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, and interest rate increases in more than 60 countries, investors fled stocks in droves. But then things settled down again, and many of the indexes began to recover.

Masters further points out that the stock market has also been rising for nearly four years without a 10 percent correction, a stretch that is nearly unmatched since World War II.

So in this time of ups and downs, what should an investor to do?

Diversify. Actually, that's the key to successful investing all the time.

Summer Savings

I'm thinking about taking time off once more this summer. But can you still find savings this summer. The Post's Travel Section "Flight Crew" answered some questions about ways to travel to get the most out of a vacation. Here's a relevant question and answer from a recent chat:

Arlington, Va.: There has been a lot of talk on these chats about the difficulty of using frequent flier miles. Do you know if I will face the same hassle with redeeming American Express points for travel?

The Flight Crew: Odds might be somewhat better than if your points are on just one airline and its partners, since American Express has lots of airline partners. But first off, having more partners doesn't help if the place you want to go isn't served by a lot of airlines. And even if the destination is served by many airlines, if none of them have frequent flyer tickets available for where you want to go at a given time, it really doesn't help to have lots of airlines refusing you. Secondly, you have to know which plan you have. Under one plan, you can buy a regular ticket using your express card, but then use points to pay, or to help pay, your American Express bill. In that case, ticket availability is huge, but then again, you have to use a lot of points.

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