Yields have declined sharply over the course of the year. The 10-year yield has dropped about 100 basis points; the 30-year about 80 basis points; and short-term rates are down about 50 basis points. Can rates go any lower? How should advisors position their clients in this environment?
For reasons unknown, October has historically been the most volatile month for the stock market—by a goodly margin. Between 1950 and the end of 2017, the S&P 500 Index saw as many as 362 trading days during the month of October in which the market moved up or down more than 1 percent.
Covered call strategies in a closed-end fund may help long-term investors manage short-term volatility.
Learn the potential benefits of a harmonized investment approach to your organization's DB and DC plans.
It’s only natural for someone invested in a poorly performing active equity mutual fund to wonder if it’s time to make a change. Should an investor sell a fund if it trails its benchmark for a year? Three years? Five years?
In this issue, Research Affiliates discusses why its contrarian philosophy may add value over the long term and how the growing likelihood of a global economic slowdown is affecting positioning.
In the past three years, oil and gas discoveries made by conventional means have fallen to an incredible seven-decade low. What’s more, a “significant rebound is not expected,” says IHS Markit. Find out what’s driving discoveries lower!
It has been a good year for U.S. investors. The global economic slowdown and geopolitical turmoil created a nearly irreversible thirst for super safe assets...
When Carl Gugasian of Dewey, Cheatham & Howe rates Bianchi Corp. a “Strong Buy,” whose interest is that in? We dig into the conflict between WallStreet and You.
Michael Milken rose to the top of Wall Street by way of the Wharton Business School with Drexel Burnham Lambert in tow. Milken’s work at Wharton was founded on the core theory that bond investors were rewarded by taking junk bond risk.
John Langbein may not be a familiar name to financial advisors, but he has had a significant and lasting impact on our profession. On September 16, he was awarded the Frankel Fiduciary Prize.
The price of gold has beaten the S&P 500 Index over a number of different time periods, even the century (so far!). The yellow metal, however, has also outperformed arguably the greatest living investor, Warren Buffett.
While the clear majority of mutual funds provide daily liquidity, it's not guaranteed. This is why understanding the potential risks to liquidity is key.
Smart beta direct indexing is an increasingly accessible implementation route that accommodates tax-loss harvesting and customizations based on client preferences and circumstances.
Private equity investing has created enormous wealth for those fortunate to be the general partners of a fund. But for regular investors – the limited partners – recent studies show that when properly adjusted for risks PE returns lag those of the less risky public markets. Moreover, there is little evidence that investors can identify, in advance, the very few PE funds that will outperform.
Once a year, I post a list of investing rules of great investors in history. Experience is a valuable commodity and these rules can keep you from learning the hard way.
Taxes are going to cost you a lot this year. By how much, you're wondering? Let’s start first by looking back.
Value investing is poised to dominate growth investing based on a historical comparison of valuation metrics. The gulf between the P/E ratios of value growth and growth stocks has never been this wide.
What’s the difference between a tax-aware, tax-efficient or tax-managed approach to investing? See why it matters and why we believe managing for taxes can make a difference for investors.
There are a number of lessons investors can learn from the sensation that is the Popeyes chicken sandwich. One of those lessons is that people often put a premium on scarcity.
With the political, fundamental, and economic backdrop becoming much more hostile toward investors in the intermediate term, understanding the value of cash as a “hedge” against loss becomes much more important.
As the topic of recession remains top of mind for many investors, now is the opportune time to consider preparing your portfolio in the event of a pullback.
According to John Sheehan, accommodative Fed policy and favorable market technicals drove the investment grade credit market’s strong start to 2019.
Analysts' expectations for 10% earnings growth in 2019 have been revised down to just 2%. This estimate will be about right if margins can be maintained at the current level and the dollar doesn't further appreciate. For 2020, analysts currently expect growth of 5% to sales and 11% to earnings. This is too optimistic.
More than a year after the start of the U.S.-China trade war, we’re finally starting to see consumer prices increase. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose to a six-month high of 2.2 percent year-over-year in July.
Planning is a lot of work for the advisor and for the client – so how can you make the payoff as positive and effective as possible? How can you make your advice useful?
Chapter 1 in the seminal book “The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham is titled “Investment versus Speculation"
I’ve worked at firms that offer outsourced portfolio management services – so-called turn-key-asset-management providers (TAMPs) – for almost 30 years. I know the industry very well and have seen my share of disasters. Here’s what to watch out for when selecting a TAMP.
We have repeatedly warned about the danger of the Fed hiking into a weak, highly leveraged economy. The Media said it was bullish. Now they are cutting and it's bullish. It can't be both.
One reason the economy is so fascinating is the way things just… happen. Growth blossoms if everyone just follows their own incentives and nothing gets in the way. The courage, vision and passion of entrepreneurs and those who risk their money backing them is one of the most inspiring aspects of modern civilization.
The Fed is poised to join the global easing bandwagon, fueling a surge in risk asset prices. As market distortions from easy money grow, so does the importance of security selection and portfolio allocation.
This article is a refresh and an update of an article I originally posted in 2015. However, the principles I am presenting are timeless and worthy of being revisited.
The recent outperformance of momentum gives us an opportunity to talk about this style of investing, the theories behind why momentum has the potential to work, how momentum can be measured, the risks of momentum (and there are plenty), and how momentum can be combined with other fundamental factors to aid in stock selection.
The economic calendar is light but includes some home sales data and the (old news) Q2 GDP first estimates. Fed speakers will be on the sidelines for the pre-meeting quiet period. Earnings reports remain the most important fresh data for both traders and investors.
Don’t let short-term volatility detract from your long-term plans.
When not taking on credit risk in a bond investment, which is better: individual Treasury bonds, FDIC-insured CDs or a mutual fund?
Despite record inflows into fixed income ETFs, concerns around the growth of these funds leading to an outsized impact on the fixed income market and the distortion of bond prices are still overblown, according to the data.
As we reach the midpoint of 2019, some investors could be feeling a little queasy from the market’s ups and downs. Our advice is to remain patient. Gain more insight from our latest client-approved Investment Outlook.
Given their low yields, are TIPS are a good investment compared to nominal Treasury bonds?
All too frequently investors use the rear-view mirror to determine an investment’s attractiveness. An upward sloping price chart often automatically makes a stock more attractive. Recent performance helps determine a “good” manager. Past interest rate movements can cause changes to bond portfolio duration.
The economic calendar is a big one, featuring the employment situation report on Friday. The rest of the data – ADP employment, auto sales, and the ISM surveys – will be released over 2 ½ days. The US Independence Day celebration on Thursday will provide one type of fireworks.
There have been many comparisons about the Fed using "insurance" #rate #cuts today versus 1995. We compare the financial and economic conditions of both periods to make the case.
With the price of gold trading above $1,430 an ounce as of June 25, now might be a good time for generalist investors to consider getting exposure to the yellow metal.
A barrier to ESG and SRI adoption is the one-size-fits-all approach inherent in mutual funds and ETFs. But a new solution allows advisors to create SMAs that are customized based on each of your clients’ values, needs and preferences.
After breaking out of a five-year trading range this week, gold surged above $1,400 for the first time since 2013 on expectations of a U.S. rate cut. Meanwhile, the global pool of negative-yielding bonds hit a fresh record high $13 trillion.
The future of equity investing is changing and will soon be driven by personalization. Discouraged by the lack of personalization in many ETFs and mutual funds, clients will move towards direct indexing and customized SMAs.
We’d all like our investments to make a positive contribution to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. But, as predicted by economic theory, ESG funds have suffered a performance deficit over a long time horizon.
Stocks surged last Friday following a U.S. jobs report that, to put it mildly, fell far below expectations. At first, this might seem counterintuitive. Shouldn’t signs of a slowing economy act as a wet blanket on Wall Street?
Could buying my team a book help them be more effective at sales? I am very skeptical. Convince me.
Here’s how you can slay the tax beast and help your clients minimize the impact of taxes.
