Earlier today the Financial Times reported that Cerberus Corp. sold more than half its equity in Chrysler and GMAC.  Later in the day Cerberus Capital Management reported that it has not sold any of its stake in Chrysler or GMAC, both with financial problems.

Since Cerberus and a group of investors acquired a 51% stake in GMAC in 2006 and a a year later a 80% stake in Chrysler, Cerberus has been having trouble getting profits from either company.

No sooner had Cerberus bought its stake in Chrysler Corporation, questions emerged about the private equity financing corporation’s long-term commitment to the American car maker.

Business Week reported that a spokesman for Cerberus said the firm has not reduced its positions since the original transactions were completed. He said Cerberus continues to have voting control over both investments and the commitment to these companies has not changed.

In the past year the downturn in the US automobile industry has hit Chrysler hard.  Cerberus also has problems with GMAC, because of the sub-prime loan crisis. Chrysler Financial is the car loan unit of Chrysler Corporation.

The conflicting information coming from usually reliable news sources emphasizes the problems that investors have when trying to make decisions based on available information.

One of the pieces of advice from John Bogle, founder of Vanguard Funds, was that most small investors would be better off being invested in mutual funds that are run by professional financial managers, who remove the confusion people have when researching financial information.

These managers strive to maintain a stable price for mutual funds by keeping a finger on the pulse of Wall Street but not acting precipitously.  The conservative fund managers are not likely to jump in to a speculative position. That also means they miss faster moving profitable market changes.

However they are always one step ahead of the amateur investor, who can easily be confused by conflicting information.

The best advice for most people is to let the mutual fund managers take care off the details, at least, they will perform as well as the average punter. With discipline to not jump in and out of market positions, investors are more likely to weather the ups and downs of the market place.

A diversified portfolio of index funds will mirror the overall market as it goes up, even if they miss the big upside moves. They also mirror the market down too.

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