Equities reversed course and came off highs after Chinese economic data released Monday showed a sharp contraction as Covid lockdowns stung. Wheat jumped after India restricted exports, adding to broader commodity price pressure.
U.S. stocks are trading lower as another week begins on the heels of six-straight weekly losses for the S&P 500.
Three powerful forces have unleashed a volatility storm in stock markets this year.
When life gives you lemons: sell them!
Historical data shows that stock markets have reacted poorly when the Fed has contracted its balance sheet and reduced liquidity – and the effect is more pronounced when Fed actions deviate from what the market expects.
How do you re-engage your un-engaged clients to see if you can offer them expanded advisory services?
The best retirement-savings vehicle is one that few have heard about: I bonds. They offer a risk-free yield of 9.62%, yet the amount of I bonds issued is only a small fraction of the total volume of bond issuance by the U.S. Treasury. My guest today will explain that paradox.
This is also the 300th episode of the Gaining Perspective podcast, and no guest would be more appropriate than Zvi Bodie. He has eloquently and persuasively made the case for the financial services industry to provide products that respond to the needs of everyday investors.
Some big-name investors forecast that Bitcoin will eventually hit $100,000, $1 million or more. It could very well do that, but for now, its price is closer to $0. That’s both a risk and an opportunity.
The Strategic Investment Conference wrapped up this week with another wave of strong, fascinating speakers and panels. Today I have more to share and, as you’ll see, the plot thickened considerably.
Rising yields, wider spreads, and heightened market volatility are providing an attractive environment, but caution in credit selection is warranted.
Selling an exchange-traded fund (ETF) should be just as easy as buying one, irrespective of the fund’s size or volume.
The Fed is at a crucial junction, according to Lacy Hunt. It has to contain inflation. If not, the stability of the U.S. economy over the longer term is seriously in doubt.
In our latest insight, we analyze the recent DALBAR study to determine how well (or not well) active fixed-income investors performed during the bull market and explain what we believe will be the best approach for fixed-income investing given the start of a pro-inflation paradigm shift.
Stocks that do not pay a dividend are often thought of as growth stocks.
Jay Powell may think he is Paul Volcker, but he is not Paul Volcker.
Coming out of the depths of the pandemic, US equity and fixed income markets are facing new challenges this year amid a rising interest rate environment and deceleration in growth.
Surging inflation showed little sign of abating last month, indicating that grocery bills will keep going up, markets will remain volatile and investors will continue to feel pain in their 401(k)s.
An unfriendly macro and market landscape is making life harder for investors today, with traditional core bonds coming up short on income. In our view, focusing on generating efficient income is an effective approach to tackling the challenge of mixing the key building blocks of rates, credit and growth.
The geopolitical crisis in Ukraine creates a stagflationary shock for global economies. The plan to fight inflation just got far more complicated for global central banks.
Tax Day has come and gone.
With the world facing inflationary and geopolitical hurdles, economic growth is poised to slow. In this environment, investors in growth stocks must identify companies with the right features to overcome headwinds to earnings.
The nation’s local governments are expected to sell $20.2 billion of debt over the next month, the most since early December, according to a Bloomberg index that tracks municipal bond sales announced for the next 30 days. The gauge doesn’t represent the full tally of what actually hits the market, as many deals come with less than a month’s notice.
Since President Joe Biden was elected, millions of Americans with student loan debt have waited for him to fulfill a campaign promise of forgiving at least $10,000 per borrower. While Biden recently extended the payment moratorium for the loans until Aug. 31, pressure is mounting on the administration as the midterm elections approach.
There was a time, some 12 years ago, when I bowed to no one in my enthusiasm for bonds. Longer-dated government debt yields had surged after the global financial crisis. Yet for various reasons, inflation was likely to remain subdued, I argued. US Treasuries and even German bunds yielded about 3.5% at the time. Although headline inflation waxed and waned, it consistently came in below forecasts for the next 10 years.
I don’t care how many PhDs are going to argue against me; direct indexing is Wall Street’s attempt at squeezing more fees out of the America public using advisors as the pawns.
COVID-19’s resurgence in China has cast doubt over the government’s ability to meet its 2022 growth target of around 5.5%, which officials affirmed in March, before the scale of the latest outbreak became clear.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has trumped all other assets this month, notching a 0.6% advance at a time when stocks and bonds are tumbling. Investors have poured cash into an exchange-traded fund tracking Treasury bills for five weeks, clocking up the biggest inflows since 2020.
With the average U.S. mortgage rate above 5% and home prices at record highs, homeownership feels increasingly out of reach, particularly for young, first-time buyers. To make it work, some are renting out rooms or basements and using the extra income to help offset their costs.
Investors often look for ways to enhance income, lower a portfolio’s overall expected volatility or even help manage taxable gains.
Unless RIAs modify their communications strategies, the failure to address the need for retirement income communications will be felt for years.
Investors have had an unpleasant 2022, to put it mildly. Both stocks and bonds have dropped by more than 10%. On top of that, inflation rates at around 8.5% are the highest in four decades, reducing the purchasing power of whatever remains investors’ portfolios and promising big increases in interest rates by the Federal Reserve that threaten future investment returns.
When stocks are plunging, checking your investment accounts is risky business. The market turbulence is jarring for younger investors, who had gotten used to the idea that stocks always go up. And for those with a bit more experience, watching hard-earned money suddenly disappear is a terrible experience.
The Fed is on a single-minded mission to fight inflation, according to Jim Bianco. To do that, it will crush stock prices and home values.
The major market indices finished mixed this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.63%. The S&P 500 Stock Index rose 0.40%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.02%. The Russell 2000 small capitalization index lost 0.28% this week.
I borrowed this letter’s “Soft Now, Hard Later” headline from Dave Rosenberg. It was the title of his leadoff SIC presentation, for reasons I’ll explain.
The nature of the economy is that there are always causes for concern in strong markets, just as there are reasons for optimism in weaker ones.
April was a hard month for the markets.
In this webcast, Scott Kefer, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager at VictoryShares and Solutions will discuss alternative income strategies and their ability to offer the trifecta of benefits many investors seek: attractive income, low correlation to both stocks and bonds, and a level of volatility similar to traditional bonds.
Investor interest and participation in private markets continues to grow.
As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the fed funds rate by 50 basis points, to a range of 0.75% to 1.0%.
The US Treasury yield curve momentarily inverted.
Economic policy seems especially susceptible to a certain dynamic. Ideas get fixed too firmly and for too long, so when they’re forced to change, the shift is violent. Narratives drive decisions, and stories shape events, rather than the other way round. The new account of inflation is an arresting example.
We assess risks and potential opportunities for multi-asset portfolios amid late-cycle dynamics, higher inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty.
In the first quarter of 2022, financial markets abruptly reversed course and volatility increased significantly.
The Milken Institute Global Conference continues in Beverly Hills, California, bringing together investors, dealmakers, power brokers and celebrities to discuss markets and megatrends. Academics, sports stars, entrepreneurs and politicians among the thousands coming to the Beverly Hilton for the event, which runs through Wednesday.
Whether it’s because of tight Covid restrictions, separation from family or the frustration of closed borders, a growing number of people living abroad have made the choice to move closer to home. In the process, they’re facing the reality of inflation and pandemic-related transportation snags, not to mention the possibility of lower-paying jobs and higher taxes in their new location.
The BOJ is trapped. It is conducting unlimited QE to keep rates low and weaken the yen, which promotes inflation.
Did "capitalists" cash in on the pandemic and were they responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans?
Franklin Mutual Series’ Katrina Dudley sees President Emmanuel Macron’s re-election as a positive for the French economy and regional equity markets over the longer term.
Trillions of dollars of deficit spending financed by money creation over the past two years caused today’s soaring inflation.
