1999 Is Calling. It Wants Its Mutual Funds Back

Wall Street

from the fortuna's-wheel dept

Seeing as much of much of the hype from the last bubble is back, it makes sense that the financial side of it be back as well. Perhaps you remember Ryan Jacob and his Jacob Internet Fund, one of the more spectacular flameouts of the period. The net-heavy mutual fund lost 96% from its peak value during its first 5 quarters of existence. Well, he’s ba-ack. The Jacob Internet Fund has shown strong gains in recent years, as internet stocks have come back in vogue. Jacob, himself, claims his recent performance is some sort of vindication, though his fund remains some 75% below its peak. What’s more, his performance seems to simply mirror the sector. When internet stocks went down, his fund went down; as they’ve come back up, so has his fund. To say his recent gains provide some sort of vindication of his strategy is like saying a roulette player who always puts his money on 14 is vindicated every time the ball lands on that number. When one makes risky bets in business or the markets, booms and busts are to be expected — to say that someone’s doing well again is only seeing half of the picture.