How you can be a smart market timer

MARKETWATCH FRONT PAGE

Mutual fund investors habitually get the worst from their funds, earning returns that are worse than the investment vehicles they are buying. They don�t have to settle for that, writes Chuck Jaffe. See full story.

Wal-Mart executive labels February a disaster

Shares tumble, weighing on the entire DJIA, after a company vice president calls retailer�s monthly performance the worst he�s seen some seven years. See full story.

Consumers sitting on $9 billion in old iPhones

Why is an old iPhone still worth hundreds of dollars? New research suggests a surprising explanation: hoarding. More than half of American consumers say they have two or more unused cell phones in their house. See full story.

How gold will benefit from a currency war

Efforts by countries to devalue their currencies can benefit prices for gold, and have already started to alter the precious metal�s relationship with the foreign-exchange market and expand its role as a haven asset. See full story.

S&P 500 up for 7th week; Dow down for 2nd

U.S. stocks pared losses on a choppy day after a Wal-Mart email bemoaning state of February sales battered an already tenuous market. Investors see the market as overbought against backdrop of encouraging consumer sentiment and New York region manufacturing data. See full story.

MARKETWATCH PERSONAL FINANCE

Why is an old iPhone still worth hundreds of dollars? New research suggests a surprising explanation: hoarding. More than half of American consumers say they have two or more unused cell phones in their house. See full story.