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Challenges in Todays Municipal Market
by Douglas Peebles of AllianceBernstein, 9/4/12
Most fixed-income investments carry two key risks: interest-rate risk and credit risk. Both affect a bond's value in the market. But before the 2008 financial crisis, interest-rate risk was the primary concern of many investors and investment managerscredit risk was much less of a consideration. My colleague Michael Brooks explains why.

Fiscal Cliff Adds Urgency to US Election Budget Showdown
by Joseph Carson of AllianceBernstein, 8/29/12
With a record tax increase on tap for January 1, 2013, there has never been a better time for Washington to have a serious debate about fiscal policy. Before the economy reaches the so-called fiscal cliff, when huge tax increases and spending cuts are scheduled to take effect, US voters will have the opportunity to make a clear choice between two fiscal visions in the November elections.

Is a Japan-Style "Lost Decade" Ahead for the US?
by Sharon Fay of AllianceBernstein, 8/24/12
The laborious pace of the US recovery has inevitably fostered comparisons with Japan. But we find several reasons why a protracted slump like Japan's is unlikely, as my colleague Gerry Paul argues. After five years of tepid growth, investors can be forgiven for wondering if the US is headed for a decades-long slump like Japan's.

Stocks and Bonds: Comparing the Range of Potential Outcomes
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/21/12
Investors fleeing stocks have mostly sought shelter in bonds. That's understandable, given their relative stability and reliable income. But it's important to compare long-term expected returns, too. While bonds can be volatile in the short term, over longer time horizons, expected returns for bonds are easy to project: they are close to the starting yield, and the range of possible outcomes is narrow. Today, yields are extraordinarily low.

What Works in Tough Equity Markets?
by Sharon Fay of AllianceBernstein, 8/16/12
During the market crisis of 20082011, traditional equity style strategies such as value and growth underperformed the markets, often by wide margins. But our research shows that there was a way to diminish the negative impact of market turmoil on portfolio returns. In a recent study, we found that in volatile markets, stocks performed relatively well if they had at least one of the following characteristics.

The Fundamental Case for the 20,000 Dow
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/13/12
While some people deem stocks expensive relative to 10-year trailing earnings, we take a forward-looking approach. It starts with the premise that the stock market is not a casino and stock prices are not pulled out of thin air: they reflect the intrinsic value of companies' future earnings.

Could Tax Reform Hurt Municipal Bond Prices?
by Douglas Peebles of AllianceBernstein, 8/10/12
The "Bush tax cuts" are set to expire at the end of this year. At the same time, the annual federal budget deficit is unsustainably high and must be addressed. Of course, strong economic growth would help policymakers fix our budget shortfall, but that doesn't appear to be in the offing. The eventual solution may affect the value of municipal bonds, and that impact could be either positive or negative.

Are Stocks Too Expensive Now?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/6/12
Not in our view. Although we recognize that the US and global economies continue to be scarred by the credit crunch that began in 2008, we think stock prices already discount the risks. Investors today have good reason to worry about stocks. Europe, the US and emerging markets are facing real problems todayand economic recoveries after financial crises almost always take longer than recoveries after ordinary downturns.

Note to Bond King: Check Your Math
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/6/12
The Wall Street Journal published an article on August 1 headlined: "Bill Gross: Equities are Dead." In fairness to Gross, what he actually wrote in his August "Investment Outlook" was, "the cult of equities is dying." We agree with most of Gross's argumentbut not with his unsupported forecast of extremely low stock returns. Let's take a look at Gross's claims...

What History Suggests About the Future of Stocks
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 8/1/12
Some experts today argue that the world has entered a New Normal condition in which stocks have permanently lost their return edge. We've heard this before. It was wrong then, and we think it's wrong now, too. In 1979, BusinessWeek published a cover story famously called The Death of Equities. now, stock market returns had lagged 10-year Treasury returns for a decade, although for somewhat different reasons.

Are Investors Worried About the Right Risk?
by Seth Masters of AllianceBernstein, 7/27/12
Individual and institutional investors alike have been shifting their capital from stocks to cash and bonds at a rapid rate in recent years, despite extraordinarily low interest rates. But if investors stop to weigh the importance of two different types of risk, they'll see they still need stocks. We think that 10 years from now, investors who don't will wish they had stayed in stocks or added to them

Global Bonds: Protection in Down Markets
by Douglas Peebles of AllianceBernstein, 7/26/12
As US Treasury yields continue to plumb record lows, some have quipped that government bonds have gone from offering risk-free returns to return-free risk. Indeed, when interest rates inevitably rise from their current levels, bondholders face the prospect of poor or even negative returns. One way for investors to mitigate such a risk is by globally diversifying their bond holdings.

Variable Annuities Gain New Respect in Crisis Aftermath
by Michael Hart of AllianceBernstein, 7/26/12
The 2008 market crash has given variable annuities (VAs) a new lease on life. As clients search for ways to rebuild retirement nest eggs with less downside risk, US financial advisors are increasingly prescribing VAs as part of the solution. These were some of the key findings of a recent AllianceBernstein survey of more than 500 financial advisors to learn more about how and why they use VAs in their practices.

What's Behind the Risk-On/Risk-Off US Economy?
by Joseph Carson of AllianceBernstein, 7/20/12
The US economic recovery is progressing in fits and starts. Short-lived risk-on periods, when companies and consumers invest more, seem to constantly give way to risk-off periods, with anxiety and fear restraining economic activity. I think the choppy growth trends may have been triggered by a big change to business behavior since the financial crisis of 2008.

Greece Gains Some Breathing Space
by Darren Williams of AllianceBernstein, 6/18/12
Today, New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras will try to form a government. If he succeeds, an immediate disaster scenario will have been avoided. The question is: for how long? Yesterday, the centre-right ND party narrowly defeated the radical left wing Syriza party in the second Greek election. A coalition between ND and the center-left Pasok party would command enough seats in parliament to give it a small working majority (a target that the two parties just missed in the May election).

A Credible Recapitalization of Spanish Bank Is Now Imperative
by Darren Williams of AllianceBernstein, 6/4/12
A credible recapitalization of the Spanish banks is now a necessary, though not sufficient, condition to stabilize markets. But there is disagreement about how to achieve thisincreasing the risk of a damaging standoff and further volatility in European sovereign-debt markets.Spain was always going to be a key battleground in the sovereign-debt crisis. At 1.1 trillion, Spains economy accounts for 11% of euro-area output. It is almost twice as big as the combined economies of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. More pertinently, it has total banking assets of 3.7 trillion.

Selling Your Business Before Taxes Rise
by Daniel Eagan of AllianceBernstein, 6/4/12
Planning to sell your business? Try to wrap up the deal before year end, when todays highly favorable US capital gains tax rate is scheduled to expire. The federal long-term capital gains tax rate now tops off at 15%. If Congress does not act, on January 1, 2013, it will shoot up to 23.8%, including a 3.8% healthcare surcharge for individuals with incomes over $200,000.

What Weve Learned from Municipal Distress
by Douglas J. Peebles of AllianceBernstein, 5/22/12
Is the municipal bond market on the verge of collapse? You might think so, given the blaring headlines about a few big disasters in the last year. But as my colleague Joe Rosenblum explains below, poor decision making, not systemic issues, has caused the most serious problems. There is no question that state and local governments are facing financial hardship as a result of the weak economic recovery and its impact on tax receipts. But this is not the first time local governments have been challenged or have defaulted on their debt or filed for bankruptcy protection.

Rules of the Game Have Changed for Euro High-Yield Investors
by Douglas J. Peebles of AllianceBernstein, 5/17/12
Although we think financials will be a potential driver of volatility of high-yield returns in the coming year, were not suggesting that investors should shun the sector altogether. Its true that, in some cases, the expected returns may be outweighed by both systemic and idiosyncratic risks. For example, we might have a negative outlook on both a financial institution and the country in which it is domiciled. But in many cases, levels of country and idiosyncratic risk may be acceptable.

The Bigger Picture on US Jobs
by Joseph G. Carson of AllianceBernstein, 5/16/12
Job growth slowed in March and April from a robust pace early in the year. People also appear to be leaving the labor force. Both trends suggest that the US economy may be losing momentum. However, I think preliminary employment figures dont tell the whole story and that you really need to wait for revisions to get a more accurate picture of underlying trends. In April, payroll employment rose by 115,000. That fell short of the consensus estimate of 150,000 and was the smallest jobs gain since August 2011. But initial payroll estimates are based on only a sample of business establishments.

Dont Paint Yourself into a Corner with Overly Defensive Strategies
by Vadim Zlotnikov of AllianceBernstein, 5/14/12
Popular strategies for hedging against deflation and hyperinflation are likely to be disastrous if the economic outlook grows more benign as we expect. With the economic and policy outlook still uncertain, investors fear two contradictory but equally negative possible outcomes: deflation/deleveraging on the one hand and hyperinflation/currency devaluations on the other. As a result, instruments that can deliver protection in one or the other of these scenarios have enjoyed substantial inflows. Many investors have snapped up Treasuries, REITs and high-dividend-yielding stocks for insulation.

Euro-Area Imbalances: Is Germany Part of the Problem?
by Darren Williams of AllianceBernstein, 2/19/10
The stagnation of consumer spending and the weakness of wage growth in Germany over the past decade deprived Greece and other peripheral European countries of their most important trading partner. Expansionary German policies could help correct imbalances in the euro area, and remove the need for bailouts.

Will Productivity Gains Sustain US Economic Recovery if Employment Remains Subdued?
by Joseph G. Carson of AllianceBernstein, 2/19/10
Productivity gains have exceeded real GDP growth by 3 percentage points during the economic recovery as companies have slashed payrolls and other costs. These productivity gains are critical to overall economic performance, including profitability and standard of living improvements, and will offset any risk of weak employment.

Greek Financial Woes Escalate but Default or Euro Departure is Still Unlikely
by Darren Williams of AllianceBernstein, 2/9/10
The sell off in Greece this week has taught the country a tough lesson in the urgency of getting its debt under control. Although several risks remain and Greece may eventually require outside support, we believe it will not be allowed to fail, largely because of the risk of contagion to other weak euro-area countries.

Historic Turn in Financial Balance of US Private Sector Limits Damage from Public Debt Binge
by Joseph G. Carson of AllianceBernstein, 2/8/10
The private sector financial balance moved into surplus in 2009, as households and companies saved more and invested less. In our view, the unprecedented shift in the balance of private sector saving and investment suggests that the US recovery is on a stronger footing for a sustainable recovery in early 2010.

A New Landscape Creates Opportunity
by Team of AllianceBernstein, 2/1/10
This is a mostly bullish survey of global capital markets.
Results 1,851–1,876 of 1,876 found.