My 401(k) Mutual Funds; Upcoming Interest Rate Cut

Since the stock market is taking a dive for the most part, I'm still paying more attention to the mutual funds.

I've finally went through the 401(k) mutual funds offered by my employer and will be posting my findings in a 6-part series. I'm breaking up 18 funds into 6 three-fund postings to make it more readable. Some reviews are more in-depth than others, depending on how much information was available for a particular fund. This is especially the case for the funds that are new. I have no idea why a 401(k) administrator would pick funds with virtually no history to speak of, it just doesn't make any sense to me. Of course I can of think of reasons for such picks, but none that would benefit the plan participants. In any case, that is what's coming up, along with my final choices (which are a bit unusual, but I had my reasons - you'll see!).

Also, now that I'm done with the 401(k) mutual funds, I will be going through the entire mutual fund universe to find funds for a non-tax-advantaged account.

While I'm here I might as well share my thoughts on the interest rate environment. There has been talk of Fed cutting interest rates before the next meeting as well as during that meeting (some people expect a total interest rate cut of 1%??). I don't think the situation is that dire and if the Fed will make a move before the next meeting it will send a strong signal that the economy is very weak and will do more harm than good as such a signal will support panicky investors' outlook. What I believe is the most likely scenario is that there will be a 50bps (0.5%) interest rate cut made at the January 30th Fed meeting. This cut is already highly expected by the markets so there should be no sudden spikes.

On a side note, Firstrade just e-mailed me that it will send me a free t-shirt! I've signed up with them back in December, but so far has made no trades because of the unfavorable market conditions. I wonder if they'll be sending gifts on a monthly basis, wouldn't that be nice?