How many of you have (or have had) a 401k?

By and large, they are usually made up of mutual funds, which (pardon my Investing 101 lecture) are an aggregation of stocks (and/or bonds) derived from many different companies. Some are comprised of stocks from a specific type of industry (like tech stocks) and others can be comprised of what level of risk they involve (high-yield bonds). There are other types, but you get the idea.

So if you have a 401k (or you invest in mutual funds on your own), I bet you have NO IDEA which specific companies are in your portfolio at any given time. Mutual funds can have lots of turnover within them within short bursts of time - perhaps a tech-sector fund can trade its Apple stock for some shares of IBM, etc. The point is, you could find out, but think about how much time and effort this takes from dayto day. That's where fund managers earn their keep.

It's likely John Edwards didn't keep on top of his hedge funds for the same reason - it's time-consuming and involves lots of micromanagement. And if that doesn't answer your "isn't he supposed to know these things?" question, then he knows now, doesn't he? He is doing the right thing by getting out now.

Let those who have the purest of portfolios cast the first stone.

Edwards is no hypocrite. I posted a thread some weeks back explaining that anyone who dares speak out about poverty and the class taboo in this country will be savaged. It's still the most verboten topic in mainstream political discourse. At best, it's dismissed as "firebrand populism", and at worst, "class warfare". Either way, the person is marginalized with due haste.

I support John Edwards for president. I do think his chances for securing the nomination are less likely now than at any time during the campaign. But the reason is because of how this will be spun and dissected in the media these coming weeks. Not because of poor judgment, hypocrisy, or phoniness on his part. He isn't perfect by a long shot, but neither is he the empty haircut of which his detractors claim.