China put a halt to new ICOs and crypto transactions. In response, ethereum tumbled as much as 15.8 percent on Monday, or $55 a unit. Bitcoin lost $394 a unit.

From nuclear tensions with North Korea to turmoil on the streets of Charlottesville, political risks have been hovering over equity markets again. We think investors should be on alert for a potential resurgence of volatility.

Closed-end funds and emerging-market debt offer opportunities for income investors. We also look at Vanguard’s most recent announcement about its bond ETF and what to expect from the FOMC this month.

What causes financial crises? Unfortunately, mainstream macroeconomists have very little to say about the subject, given their decision to ignore the role of money, credit and finance.

Rarely have equity bulls and bears disagreed more than they do at present. We look at both the bull case and the bear case, and then we introduce a longer-term structural angle, which is largely ignored by both bulls and bears. This third side of the coin is based on the fact that inflation is structurally low, and that central banks may be committing a serious policy error by targeting 2% inflation, when it is almost impossible to drive inflation to those levels. Enjoy the read!

Action is about to heat up as summer comes to an end but investors should remain cool. Geopolitical threats, domestic politics, and Federal Reserve actions all have the potential to add to volatility and heightens the risk of a pullback or correction. But healthy economic growth and strong corporate earnings lead us to believe that the bull market has legs.

With the release of yesterday's report on July Personal Incomes and Outlays, we can now take a closer look at "Real" Disposable Personal Income Per Capita. At two decimal places, the nominal 0.21% month-over-month change in disposable income was trimmed to 0.12% when we adjust for inflation. The year-over-year metrics are 1.98% nominal and 0.57% real. The trend since 2013 has been one of steady growth.

Although inflation may seem a distant threat, even modest inflation can prove devastating to retirees who depend on income that does not adjust with inflation.

Valid until the market close on September 29, 2017.

The S&P 500 closed August with a fractional monthly gain of 0.05% after a gain of 1.93% in July. All three S&P 500 MAs are signaling "invested" and four of the five Ivy Portfolio ETFs — Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU), iShares Barclays 7-10 Year Treasury (IEF), and Vanguard REIT Index ETF (VNQ) — are signaling "invested".

Every year in August I organize four lunches for serious investors on successive Fridays in eastern Long Island. There are different groups of 25—30 people at each one and many of the great names of the hedge fund, real estate and private equity world attend, along with some academics and government folk.

As we publish this month’s Commentary, Hurricane / Tropical Storm Harvey continues to pummel Houston and the surrounding areas. The flooding is intense, the damage will be massive, and there will be tremendous human and economic suffering as the rains subside and the waters all-too-slowly recede.

Today the National Association of Realtors released the July data for their Pending Home Sales Index. According to the National Association of Realtors®, "Pending homes sales stumbled in July for the fourth time in five months as only the West saw an increase in contract activity."

Here is an advance preview of the monthly moving averages we track after the close of the last business day of the month. At this point, before the close on the last day of the month, all three S&P 500 strategies are signaling "invested" — unchanged from last month's triple "invested" signal. Four of the five Ivy Portfolio ETFs — Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (VEU), iShares Barclays 7-10 Year Treasury (IEF), and Vanguard REIT Index ETF (VNQ) — are signaling "invested", unchanged from last month's quadruple "invested" signal.

Richard Thaler, PhD, is considered one of the founding fathers of behavioral economics, the nexus of economics and psychology—specifically how people and organizations make decisions that may have negative consequences and how they frequently repeat these mistakes. 

Today gold is trading over $1,305, for the first time since November 4, 2016. The breakdown in the USD Index last week was a good signal telegraphing the short-term breakout in gold. Gold is notoriously difficult to value, but we have found one relationship that seems to consistently work.

With today's release of the June S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, we learned that seasonally adjusted home prices for the benchmark 20-city index were up 0.1% month over month. The seasonally adjusted national index year-over-year change has hovered between 4.2% and 5.8% for the last twenty-eight months. Today's S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index (nominal) reached another new high.

Discussing how to donate non-cash assets with clients provides an opportunity for advisors to help increase the impact of a client’s charitable giving and maximize their tax benefits at the same time.

That is a pretty bold statement to make considering that every one of her predecessors failed to predict the negative consequences of their actions. Will there will be another “Financial Crisis” in our lifetimes? Yes, it is virtually guaranteed.

Shouldn’t clients be able to look on a financial planner’s website and see what services they can expect to receive for the fees they expect to pay? Shouldn’t the profession evolve a pricing model where people who do more for the client can charge more, and those who do less will charge less?

This week the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is hosting its annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and a number of Fed officials have commented on “inflation.” Why is targeting inflation so important? Because rising inflationary pressures will cause the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates and such periods tend to prove challenging for the stock and bond markets.

The eurozone has been the brightest star on this year’s economic horizon. The region’s output expanded at a 2.5% pace during the second quarter and has been rising continuously for 48 consecutive months.

I hope investors have taken steps to prepare for some potentially disruptive economic storms, including this weekend’s central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and the possibility of a contentious battle in Congress next month over the budget and debt ceiling.

We believe biotech's long-term historical drivers, demographics and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity to secure patent protected drugs, may outlast near-term political headwinds and should lead investors to consider bio-pharma from a longer-term perspective. Biotech valuations also currently appear attractive relative to the broader market and look less crowded than other growth sectors. Over the short term we see potential opportunities in select individual biotech and pharma names.

With critical policy pivots on the horizon, investors should approach asset allocation with full appreciation for downside risk and stay focused on relative value and security selection.

We see three factors that potentially support Japanese equities going forward: 1. Improving earnings outlook amid a strengthening domestic economy and synchronized global expansion. 2. Currently attractive equity valuations compared to developed market peers. 3. Continued monetary stimulus from the Bank of Japan and a potentially stable yen.

Non-cash assets provide a powerful way for clients to increase the impact of their charitable giving and maximize tax benefits at the same time. However, many investors are still confused about the advantages of donating non-cash assets such as publicly traded stock or real estate, instead of giving cash, a check or by credit card. Offering expertise on this topic presents an opportunity to educate clients, deepen your relationships with them and help them increase their giving by as much as 20%.

This morning's release of the July New Home Sales from the Census Bureau came in at 571K, down 9.4% month-over-month from a revised 630K in June. Seasonally adjusted estimates for back to April were also revised. The Investing.com forecast was for 612K.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its U.S. House Price Index (HPI) for June. U.S. house prices were up 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted nominal basis from the previous month. Year-over-year the index is up 6.5% (nonseasonally adjusted). Seasonally adjusted, the index is up 5.62% year-over-year.

REITs are vulnerable to an increase in interest rates or an economic contraction. If you have been thinking of increasing your allocation to REITs to generate more cash flow, this new research – and current valuations – should serve as a cautionary warning.

In some states, when a couple enters into divorce, the court may award “alimony,” or spousal support, to one of the former spouses for the express purpose of limiting any unfair economic effects by providing a continuing income to the spouse. The purpose is to help that spouse continue the “standard of living” they had during the marriage.