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A Market Forecast We Can Believe In
When Leuthold makes a major forecast, we pay close attention. And in their January Green Book, they said they see the U.S. stock market beginning a ?topping process? which started last July. They believe that this will ultimately take U.S. stocks down by 25-30% in either 2015 or 2016. Leuthold points to symptoms such as a weak high yield bond market, lagging relative performance of the NYSE Composite Index (which was the focus of our 11/28/14 blog), and very bullish newsletter writers.
Oil Prices... A Metaphor for an Investment Process
Energy is an essential part of the global economy. There are companies that drill for oil or natural gas, those that process and refine it into products and others that transport and sell those products (e.g. gas stations). These businesses are all impacted by the price, supply and demand environment surrounding energy. Lately, they have nearly all been losing investments.
Rounding Third and Heading for Where?
These past few weeks, with the year winding down and investment strategy decisions to think about (always), I spent a lot of time with my research team analyzing historical stock market index data as far back as 1871. First conclusion: I am sick and tired of analyzing historical stock market index data! We did this to see what todays investor might learn from market history.
Sungarden's 2015 Investor Preview
2014 is nearly behind us. And since we tend to not want to do things the way the Wall Street herd does, our 2015 outlook is formatted this way: we list a group of potential scenarios, and then assign our best guess probability that they will happen next year. This is about considering the possibilities, not making outright predictions.
2014 In Review: A Good Year to Avoid Performance Envy
2014 has been an odd year in many ways. Easy money has continued to be the rule for central governments across the world, and this has created false sense of security that is going on six years (following the end of the financial crisis-induced stock market decline that ended in March, 2009). To us, it was a year of waiting: for an end to the suppression of interest rates to aid retirees, for the U.S. Congress to do something productive, and for investors to start taking risk more seriously and stop falling for Wall Street come-ons.
Bulls, Bears and Pigs
So, the global stock markets have your attention. Whether you are focused on declining economic prospects in Europe, Emerging Markets weakness or the recent slide in the U.S. stock market, we are all forced to contemplate something that may now be driving up beside us, not merely in the rear-view mirrora stock bear market.
Revisiting a YouTube Classic
Back in the summer of 2011, a short animated film was built using a website called XtraNormal. The site allows anyone to create a film and chose animated characters and voices. This one particular film sought to educate (with the creators strong opinions included) the audience on the Federal Reserves Quantitative Easing (QE) program, which then was in its middle stages. And boy, did it find an audience, with over 5 million people viewing it!
The "Other" Problem for Bond Investors
For a while now, my firm and I have been devout in alerting our clients and blog subscribers to the issues that will confront them as investors if/when the more than three decades of generally falling U.S. interest rates reverses itself. But what if they dont rise much for a while, and instead stay around where they are?
Where You Finish Could Depend on Where You Start
It helps to be aware of the many possible outcomes and adjust your strategy to sync with the current record price highs in this popular market benchmark. Doing so can help you be more successful, regardless of what the next five years may bring. In this sense, it is not where you finish, its where you start.
The Investing Evolution: How We Got Here
One of the main themes of the Schwab Impact conference was the urgency the industry feels to go beyond traditional asset allocation. I could not agree more with that concept. But as for the execution of it, I see what I have seen so many times beforea good idea to help investors, which the industry then bludgeons to death with complexity, excessive fees and a bunch of me-too products. I will devote much more space in this blog to this in the coming weeks and months.
Point and Go Figure
I will admit that Point and Figure (P&F) charting is not something I have spent years studying. I do know that according to Investopedia and other sources I have read recently, it is gaining followers. P&F charts tend to be longer-term in their view, and they project and name an actual price target for the stock or index you are tracking.
Where Are We? A Psychological View
When markets get temporarily unruly as they have recently, it tends to drive folks like us to go back and prove to ourselves once again that each and every part of our existing portfolios (the stocks and the hedge positions we own) is as valid to us as it was when we bought it. And, with many stocks on our watch list getting closer to being viable additions to the mix as their prices drop, we are essentially scouring our investable universe to see if we can either improve our upside potential, strengthen our defenses, or both. It is a rigorous process, always.
Investing is Like a Baseball Season (Not a Football Season)
Rather than try to out-guess the market's trader element, we prefer to act consistent with what our objectives are for each strategy. Avoiding the big loss is a prime part of that. Tracking bounce days when market activity is getting increasingly concerning to us is not. Boring? Yes. Effective at keeping our clients retired? We think so.
Much Ado About 0.60%
Since 1962, the Dow has had a daily change of at least 0.60% over 45% of the time! (Ycharts.com 2014) There are 251 U.S. market trading days a year. This means that on average, about 113 trading days a year result in the Dow changing by 100 points or more, in current terms. Enough said. So, let's focus on what is really news. When market volatility truly returns, it will be like U.S. Justice Potter Stewart famously said about pornography (paraphrasing): you'll know it when you see it.
The Elephant Leaves the Room
The news was greeted with shock by some, while others wondered what took so long. In perhaps the first of many shoes to drop on the hedge fund industry, the largest U.S. pension fund, Calpers announced it will sell all of its hedge fund investments within 12 months. Media stories on this announcement were quick to cite lagging performance of these funds over the past year, but it appears Calpers was more concerned with the level of fees and lack of transparencythat is, they did not know what the heck was going on inside of many of the funds.
Bad Breadth
Investors have heard about record highs in the stock market for months now. Headline indices like the S&P 500 and the Dow 30 broke their record highs this summer, and are still quite close to them. But what about the other indices? According to a recent Bloomberg article, About 47% of stocks in the Nasdaq Composite Index are down at least 20% from their peak in the last 12 months while more than 40% have fallen that much in the Russell 2000 Index and the Bloomberg IPO Index. Some will refer to this as a two-tiered market. We prefer to call it "bad breadth."
Anarchy in the U.K.
This weeks blog borrows its title from one of the early anthems of the 1970s Punk Rock era. At a time when terrorism dominates the global newswire, another part of the world is erupting in what could become a market-moving chain of events. This is accompanied by an atmosphere that can appropriately be described as vicious (Baby Boomer alternative music buffs from their college days hopefully get the pun there).
Why 2K?
This week, the S&P 500 stock index crossed the 2,000 mark for the first time (this figure and other historical returns referred to in this article do not include dividends). Round numbers always get the medias attention, so avid market-watchers already know this. But why? Why, just six years after the financial world seemed to be ending, are we celebrating a milestone that at that point seemed a generation away?
7 Phrases Investment Professionals Should Never Say
Robert Isbitts posted: "As a big Robin Williams fan, this was a tough week. Ironically, before this comedic genius's shocking death on Monday, my team and I planned for this week's blog to be a parody of the work of another comedian taken from us too soon, George Carlin.
Index funds beat active 90% of the time. Really?
My last article suggested six ways in which retired and retiring investors may be lulling themselves into a false sense of comfort. They do this by adhering to ideals that were originally postulated many years ago, and which today still have some merit. But theyve become clichs to a point where their foundation is no longer questioned when it needs to be. They are myths which need to be busted
WIMPY Implications of Massive Government Stimulus
The question we have is how are we going to pay for all of this borrowed money? If you are the government and own the Mint, you can print more money. That pays your debts but devalues your currency, so you replace one problem with another. When you hear that the Fed is "pumping liquidity into the system" there is a good reason - they are the only ones left who can. The consumers financial condition is again fading into treacherous territory.
Red Shoots - Today's Top Investor Concerns (Also Known as the Investors "Dirty Dozen")
A while back, we published a list that we continually update at Sungarden. We call them Red Shoots. They are essentially the opposite of a set of conditions which gave investors hope that not all was lost, in the throes of the financial crisis of 2008. Those reasons for optimism were called Green Shoots, like a patch of short green grass about to show up on the dirt area you will one day call your lawn. Red Shoots are the opposite: they are the reasons for extreme caution when the market and many investors seem to be forgetting that security prices are not a one-way propositi
What Are Your Chances?
Todays blog is an excerpt from our whitepaper, The Sungarden Study which addresses the retirement income crisis, standard solutions, and offers a recommended alternative to traditional approaches. To request a copy of the study, please use the Contact Us tab at www.sungardeninvestment.com .
Where's Voldo?
When volatile markets come around, it is not the actual VIX level that is most important. Understanding of the way the rules of engagement for risk management and return strategies change (and they can change a lot), is the key. The difference between fearing volatile markets and capitalizing on them is, in our opinion, a key element to the long-term success of any investment strategy.
The Best of the Sungarden Blog - On Its First Birthday
This week marks the first anniversary of our blog, which you can find at www.sungardeninvestment.com. To celebrate, we chose from among the more than 50 blog posts of the past year eight which we believe were the most impactful, based on readership and feedback we have received. We invite you to see what you may have missed or take a fresh look at this tour of Sungardens views. The original post date is noted after each title, and you can simply click on a title to go to it.
"Can You Kick It?" ...and Other Irrelevant Questions
This was on my mind recently as CNBC turned 25 years old. That is a significant achievement no matter how you slice it. Since 1989 the biggest business news network around has transformed the way people participate in the markets. Their hosts have become icons, and they have turned some very bright but anonymous portfolio managers and economists into the business world equivalent of rockstars.
How to not get screwed by the bond bubble
To paraphrase an old Sean Connery/Roger Moore movie: bonds?high quality bonds. Bond funds, too. Bond funds, particularly those that invest in US Treasuries and other types of bonds at the low end of the risk spectrum, have been popular investments with individual investors for a long time. Since a lot of those bond buyers are generally risk-averse, many of them likely moved cash out of money market funds to buy the bond funds, so there is likely a strong element of ?reaching for yield? occurring there. That is, they were used to earning 6-7% on their Treasury Bonds not very long ago.
"The 10 Plagues" of Retirement Investing
Last Tuesday marked the end of the Passover holiday, in which Jews around the world celebrate the exodus from Egypt in biblical times (see the classic movie ?The Ten Commandments? for a visual version of the story). One highlight of the ?Seder? dinner conducted on the first two nights of the holiday is for all gathered to recount a part of the story known as ?The 10 Plagues.? Biblical references aside, it got me thinking about 10 plagues that today?s retired and retiring investors must grapple with. Here they are, sans the Matzoh Ball soup.
Do You Think You Can Be Effective in Market Forecasting?
It is important to understand that no one can predict the future with certainty. Investors should take so-called expert forecasts with a grain of salt. Effective portfolio management is not about forecasting the future and then clinging to that forecast. It?s about continuously evaluating information and market conditions and then making adjustments when necessary to pursue the ultimate goal. To paraphrase long time market watcher Steve Leuthold, ?Predictions are for show, our decisions within the portfolio are for dough.?
Exchange-Traded Fun!
This week, we take a lighthearted look at Exchange-Traded Funds. ETFs are mutual funds that trade on a stock exchange. ETFs are rapidly taking a bite out of the business long dominated by traditional "open end" mutual funds - the investment in a basket of securities with a common characteristic, such as industry, company size, geographic region, etc.
The 5-Year Itch
The financial media is filled with historical comparisons to past periods. Despite the fact that all mutual fund companies and financial advisors are obligated to warn that past performance is no guarantee of future results, it is human nature to look for clues as to when history may repeat itself. As the famous quote goes, those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. What prompted this week's blog, is the most uncanny, shocking and truly creepy numerical coincidence I have seen in some time...or perhaps ever.
Sameness
The start of each year is full of market predictions from investment strategists. I tend not to get too caught up in that (it is one of the benefits of being an independent firm ? no one is compelling us to provide one!). Not wanting to get lost in the sea of 2014 market predictions, we now take a look back at the seven-week mark of the year?when many of these predictions are already out of the news cycle.
Many Reasons for Rates to Rise
There are a number of scenarios and events that could cause rates to rise in the next several years. Increasing economic growth in the United States would mean that the Federal Reserve no longer needs to keep market interest rates artificially low. Central banks around the world have been buying debt to spur economic activity, with mixed result at best. When there is no longer a need to purchase more debt, the massive, coordinated demand for that debt will fall. And when that happens... uh-oh.
Knockout Punch for the Stock Markets?
Boxers are tough. So are secular bear markets. Whether or not we have been in one since back in 2000 (we say yes) is a subject of constant debate in the investment advisory industry. What is more important to investors today is whether past market behavior tells us anything important about the current environment? We think the answer is yes - human behavior repeats itself over and over again.
A Grim Intermediate Outlook for High-Quality Bond Returns
Rates have been steadily falling since the 1980s. A simple "reversion to the mean" in which rates rise toward their long-term average (the average 10 year U.S. Treasury rate since 1926 according to data sourced from the St. Louis Federal Reserves website) would mean that rates would rise to about 5%. Thats almost a 2% increase from where we are right now. We suspect that would be more than enough to spur a dramatic change in investors attitudes toward bond investing, and to increase interest in viable alternative strategies for retirement income.
Hedged-Dividend Investing: The Debate Starts
Lively debate is common in our business and it existence promotes exactly what investors are looking for - flesh and blood people who can do the research for them, the planning with them and be willing to stand by their beliefs and act in their clients best interests.
Gold in the Toilet?
I am not debating that gold can be a very good investment over some periods of time. But perhaps these events bear watching to see if gold regains its luster or fades down to a level that would plunge it further into the investment markets version of the toilet. Gold is now about a break-even from four years ago and its price is sitting near a long-term "support level" price last reached over the summer of 2013. The next few months should be interesting ones.
Strategies for a Runaway Market (year-end edition)
It seems to me that the best advice for the upcoming year as an investor is "dont anticipate what will happen, just balance reward potential and risk potential for each client situation and be ready for anything." This is very similar to the feeling the surrounded markets in 1999 just before the dot-com bubble burst, and again in late 2007 when the credit crisis started to become more widespread. So, here is my advice for those investors and financial advisors who wish to start getting mentally ready for surviving 2014.
Hedged Dividend Investing: The Best Strategy You've Never Heard Of?
Our industrys challenge: How to deal with that via creation of intelligent investment strategies that allow advisors and their clients to follow through on their desire to skirt both the bond and stock bubbles of the future, while still striving for a competitive yield for their retirement portfolios.
Red Shoots? Amid the Holiday Cheer, is a Market Peak Brewing?
I dont see imminent signs of a rough market, but it does appear that some "red shoots" are not forming. FYI, a red shoot is a term I just made up. Whereas a "green shoot" is a piece of good news in an otherwise difficult economic environment, I define a red shoot as a piece of potentially bad news among a sea of green stock market profits.
Results 1–50
of 72 found.