Underfunded pension plans grab the headlines. But that’s not what drives prices in the municipal bond market, according to Tom Doe. It’s the interplay between supply and demand – and right now yields are depressed due to a shortage of high-quality bonds.

Many wealthy clients, especially owners of closely-held firms, have interests in subchapter-S corporations. The tax policies proposed by the Trump administration will have a significant impact on them, according to Toni Nitti.

If you’ve attended as many advisor conferences as I have, you know that panel discussions featuring speakers whose firms have booths in the exhibit hall are rarely more than a “pitch fest” – an opportunity for panelists to promote their firms’ strategies. However, a panel on alternative investments at the Pershing conference last week was an exception.

Last week the Federal Reserve hiked the federal funds rate by ¼ of a percentage point for the fourth time since December 2015. The funds rate is still below the rate of inflation, which means the Fed is still a long way from becoming tight.

The Federal Reserve did what almost everyone expected today, raising the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 1.00% - 1.25%.

While generally upbeat about global economic prospects, former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned policymakers against “blowing a hole in the deficit” by cutting taxes and pursuing aggressive fiscal policy measures.

The history books will document that U.S. interest rates hit their secular bottom in July 2012, according to Jeffrey Gundlach. Although bonds prices have rallied in the first half of this year, he said they will continue to fall.

When the Federal Reserve raises rates by another quarter percentage point on Wednesday, you're going to see many stories about monetary policy getting tight and the potential threat that poses for the economy in general and the bull market in stocks in particular.

Harry Markopolos, the investigator who exposed Madoff, has uncovered a new fraud. The unfunded status of the pension fund of the Boston Transit Authority is $500 million bigger than previously thought. This will have a significant impact on the municipal bond market, especially if it turns out that the problems are endemic among similar pension funds.

With home prices recovering, builders will become more active and housing will follow the path of vehicle sales...with a lag, helped along by too much government.