It’s time for the CFP Board to acknowledge that it has been misleading consumers and causing them financial harm. The penalties for its misdeeds must go beyond mere admonishments and pressure to fix its vetting and enforcement problems. The scale and brazenness of the Board’s transgressions warrants financial accountability and an end to the Board’s efforts to gain control over the financial planning industry.
Gold headed for its best week in nearly two months as the value of negative-yielding debt touched a new record of $15 trillion. The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 2 percent, pushing gold above $1,500 an ounce for the first time since September 2013.
Market volatility has been on the rise as US-China trade tensions continue to flare and recent central bank activity has created more questions than answers. As such, many investors have been on edge.
What shifts from tariffs to currency mean in the US-China trade war.
Larry Kotlikoff will share some provocative ideas on what caused the Great Recession. As you’ll read, he demolishes the explanations Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue want us to believe. Instead, he argues that our financial system was built to fail, failed spectacularly, and was then rebuilt to die another day.
At the moment, there are roughly 15T dollars of debt “earning” negative interest rates in the global economy, a state not anticipated in modern macroeconomic theory first proposed by Keynes and Samuelson during the 30s and 40s.
As rates fall to zero in most of the world, the line that has been ringing in our mind is “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!” This is a chorus investors have sung through their capital allocations. We believe the Eagles provided an excellent understanding of what today’s market is giving investors in their song, Hotel California.
It is no longer absurd to think that the nominal yield on U.S. Treasury securities could go negative.
The manufacturing side of the economy is showing increasing signs of weakness, but the consumer still looks healthy—which side wins and what should investors do?
Last week many traders, not investors, became “trapped” in the equity markets as most of the major averages had their worst week of the year. I wish we could say we called the downturn, but all we thought would happen was a mild pullback.
Say what you will about this past week, it certainly wasn’t dull. The Federal Reserve, seemingly capitulating to President Donald Trump and Wall Street, became just the latest central bank to cut interest rates.
Expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates has been a primary factor driving investor sentiment and actions in recent months. It should be noted, though, that the considerations and actions of the Fed are part of a complex ecosystem that has financial, political and behavioral components that come with considerable uncertainty.
In this last quarter, the rapid rise in gold prices has got everyone talking. A slew of factors are combining to create the perfect storm in favor of Gold, and if you haven’t looked at Gold yet, you’re missing out big time.
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its growth outlook for the U.S., U.K., Eurozone, Japan and China.
If you examine the portfolio of the Daily Journal, run by Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, you will see three main stocks. In 2009, near the market bottom, Munger purchased shares of Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of America (BAC) and U.S. Bancorp (USB).
I’m a firm believer that your thoughts manifest your future. It’s very hard to make money and be successful when you’re always expecting the worst to happen.
There are good reasons to think we could once again see some fiat currencies disappear. If so, what “something else” will be money in the future?
There may come a time, sooner than you think, when the world economy simply cannot operate to its full potential without bitcoin, Facebook’s proposed Libra or some other large-scale digital currency.
Now that gold has broken through the $1,450 an ounce level, a six-high year high, the next big test is $1,500. And as I’ve said before, it can do this in the blink of an eye under the right conditions.
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. Moreover, I have updated the supporting examples to more precisely reflect our current market environment.
When not taking on credit risk in a bond investment, which is better: individual Treasury bonds, FDIC-insured CDs or a mutual fund?
Game theory is a useful framework for modeling aspects of sovereign debt recoveries, given that it models the interactions among debtors and creditors in the lending/borrowing "game." While there is a long-established set of precedents for Paris Club (U.S. & European) and multilateral (IMF, etc) creditors’ actions, we still have little available information about how China will act in debt negotiations.
Economists are stunned by why economic growth remains at low levels a decade after the last recession. Here's why.
Many observe the impacts of e-commerce growth as decimating commercial retail properties, leaving empty big-box warehouses and strip malls in its wake. While this may be true to a certain extent, it ignores the potential opportunity this new trend is creating in the industrial property sector.
The economic calendar is normal and includes several important reports. I am especially interested in the housing data and retail sales. More important than the economic data is the start of earnings season.
As an active investment manager with a firm commitment to integrating environmental, social and governance analysis into its investment processes, Franklin Templeton recognizes its responsibility to raise awareness of climate transition issues.
Here are the mechanics and benefits of submitting custom content to relevant publications.
What really makes us “old" – our chronological age or our attitude?
The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for U.S. economic growth, inflation, unemployment and interest rates.
This is the third in a series of posts focusing on the formula of advisor value. Here we discuss the cost of basic investment-only management—which is not only worthwhile, but necessary. Yet it should also be a warning sign if your value proposition is based solely on your investment management prowess.
Quarterly commentary giving an overview of the markets and the importance of having and implementing a strategy when investing in the markets.
Investors to bond issuers: “We’ll pay you to borrow money from us.”
Greetings from Montréal one of my favorite cities in the World. The climes here are cooler than in Florida and the weather is perfect, which is a nice respite from Florida’s heat and humidity. I am here to see some institutional accounts and speak at an event in one of my favorite restaurants on Peel Street...
Accelerated demand for regional debt suggests a constructive remainder of 2019 for bonds in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), according to Dino Kronfol, chief investment officer, Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk and MENA Fixed Income. He outlines four things that are at the top of his mind for GCC debt in the current economic climate. He also shares why he thinks the MENA region could provide fertile ground for fixed income investors searching for yield.
The quarter was a good one for investors, overcoming fears of an all-out U.S.-China trade war. The S&P 500 index rose roughly 4% for the quarter and was up ~17% for the year. It was the market’s best first half performance since 1997 and extended the more than decade long bull market.
Our latest survey of global fixed income investment firms reveals conflicting viewpoints between interest-rate managers and credit managers on growth expectations and risk assets.
Over the past decade, exploration and production companies (“producers”) have been in a land grab battle as shale oil resources (“shale oil plays”) have emerged across the United States.
Why are we so bad at probabilities and worse at understanding consequences?
Advocates of MMT insist that governments can and should print as much money as needed to fund massive public works, guarantee government jobs for the unemployed and much more. This is a recipe for runaway hyperinflation.
Major secular drivers could disrupt the global economy and financial markets over the next three to five years. We share our views on risks and opportunities ahead.
Gold is one of the rarest elements in the world, making up roughly 0.003 parts per million of the earth’s crust. But how much gold is the world digging up each year and what countries produce the most?
With more and more outside capital circling, everyone wants in on the RIA M&A game. Given this is an industry-wide trend, why do we only see press coverage of acquisitions from the same few firms?
Anytime you are in a meeting, recording a YouTube video or speaking on stage, the position of your hands matters.
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.
On the latest edition of Market Week in Review, Quantitative Investment Strategist Dr. Kara Ng and Rob Cittadini, director, Americas institutional, discussed the recent rise in markets, deteriorating economic data and newfound optimism surrounding the China-U.S. trade war.
Today, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) announced they plan to acquire Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC). We saw many corporate deals struck last year (Concho/RSP Permian, Diamondback/Energen, Encana/Newfield, etc.) and have expected sector consolidation to continue in 2019 as oil prices have rebounded and companies look to benefit from strategic synergies.
Creating a sustainable fixed-income portfolio isn’t just about avoiding harm–it’s about doing good. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals provide a road map for selecting companies that offer products and services that help the environment and create a more equitable, just world.
The tone of the FOMC statement and press conference was a notable shift from the May meeting, given uncertainty around the economic outlook.
