Absent a new category of products, Apple is turning into a fully ripe stock.

Economists view the growth in labor productivity, or output per worker, as the single most important variable in an economy. It’s what lifts the standard of living, helps keep prices low, reduces government budget strains, and drives corporate profits. Over the next few decades, achieving faster productivity growth will be key as labor force growth slows. The outlook is encouraging, but uncertain.

This week’s On My Radar is an investment outlook piece. While current trend evidence remains bullish, you’ll see valuation data below that tells us the coming 7-, 10- and 12-year equity market returns are not so good. Your and my clients are expecting 10% forward returns; however, due to extremely high valuations they are likely get 0% to 2%. Trouble spots? There are many.

I am really coming to grips with my 2018 outlook, and I find myself wrestling with the implications of slowing growth on the economy and, in particular, the markets. The fundamentals have been strong, with good earnings growth driving the markets up.

Risk management is a key part of many endeavors, from space travel to investment management. In either case, achieving one's goals requires awareness of what could go wrong, as well as careful attention to details in often-changing conditions to ensure the smoothest possible journey

It should be clear by now that something is changing in financial markets, and this is what inspired me to allocate part of our capital in a company with first-mover advantage in the cryptocurrency space, just as we did with Silver Wheaton years ago. As the “Parable of the Talents” teaches us, no reward can come to you without some risk-taking. Doing nothing is not an option.

Market risks come in three flavors: recession risk, economic shock risk, and risks within the market itself. So, what do these risks look like for November? Let’s take a closer look at the numbers.

Global CIO Jeff Hussey discusses why we believe having a clear view of your portfolio—with detailed, real-time knowledge down to the street level—is essential in today's market environment.

Value investing is under attack. The US equity market is at its most expensive level in history and has spent most of the past six years in the top quintile of expensive. In addition, value equities have underperformed the broad market and more widely growth equities for over ten years.

Janet Yellen’s term as US Federal Reserve (Fed) chair ends early next year, and President Donald Trump decided not to extend her tenure as head of the US central bank. His pick to lead the Fed is Jerome Powell.

The Consumer Staples sector is often viewed as a safe haven; a sector that, because of its inherent cash flow stability, market participants can turn to as a place of refuge when things get shaky. Yet, persistent fundamental decline among North American Staples companies may well be throwing a wrench in these companies’ abilities to weather a broad market downturn.

After the 2016 presidential election, we knew that 2017 was going to mean a change in direction for the country. President Trump ran on a platform of tax and healthcare reform, which seemed to signal a new frontier for tax and financial-planning strategies. So a year later, where do we stand?

The conventional wisdom is that Millennials are a generation with unique needs and buying habits, but Neil Howe says that they are very similar to the Greatest Generation. Howe, who coined the term “Millennial,” says that both generations are highly risk-averse, a characteristic brought on by their shared parenting environment.

We’re now in the eighth year of a global bull market, and the positive effects are being felt in all regions. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development expects gross domestic product (GDP) for all of its member countries to grow in 2017 — a feat that has not occurred since 2007.

At least for tax-advantaged investors, dividends are irrelevant: They are neither good nor bad in terms of forward-looking return expectations. Therefore, while there is no reason to exclude dividend-paying stocks, focusing solely on them leads to less diversified (less efficient) portfolios.

The world is changing fast right now in ways that many investors might not easily recognize or want to admit. This could end up being a costly mistake. If you’re not paying attention, you could be letting opportunities pass you by without even realizing it. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of five agents of change that I think investors need to be aware of and possibly factor into their decision-making process.

The macro data from the past month continues to mostly point to positive growth. Unemployment claims are at a new 40 year low. New home sales are at a new 10 year high. On balance, the evidence suggests the imminent onset of a recession is unlikely.

With growth-oriented investing continuing to outperform a value-based approach, we look at whether this trend will continue and what might tilt the balance.

The Bank of England (BoE) has bitten the bullet and hiked the base interest rate from 0.25% to 0.5%, but in a dovish turn also provided forward guidance that outlines a very gradual path for future hikes. This was a close call with compelling arguments in favor and against.

One could argue that this latest statement came in on the dovish side. But a broader read rapidly dispels that notion.

If you are like many people, you probably have put plenty of thought into what your ideal retirement would look like. Maybe it involves exotic travel, pursuing a favorite hobby or spending more time with friends and family.

When real wages decline and the retirement pot takes a hit, the man in the street starts to bleed. He doesn't always understand the underlying dynamics, but that rarely matters. Something must change, he says to himself. That is what has happened to many Brits in recent years and explains why Corbyn has suddenly got plenty of momentum.

The narrative about the Fed's policy has shifted over time as equities have risen. As late as 2012, QE was viewed as bearish. Into 2014, it was only continued QE inflows that were considered bullish. When stocks kept rising after QE ended, the narrative shifted to the large Fed "balance sheet" and then to global central bank actions.

Here’s a new bet with Warren Buffett based on a portfolio oriented around risk parity and factors.

So few new large mines are being discovered today, mostly because companies have had to slash exploration budgets in response to lower gold prices. Earlier this year, S&P reported that total exploration budgets for companies involved in mining nonferrous metals fell for the fourth straight year in 2016. Budgets dropped to $6.9 billion, the lowest point in 11 years. Although we’ve seen an increase in spending so far this year, it still dramatically trails the 2012 heyday.

Actively managed front-end strategies may be able to mitigate the erosion of real capital experienced in passive benchmarks as rates rise.

This is the final installment of the five-part series where I examined the past operating histories and valuations of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. With this 5 Part series I attempted to cover the 30 Dow stocks in order of highest valuations to lowest.

A global factor helps explain why central bank policies often tend to be correlated across countries.

Here’s what investors consider when deciding whether to invest in long-only or long-short factor strategies, including relative and absolute return goals.

The Fed is dazed and confused (with apologies to Jake Holmes) about the lack of goods/services price inflation currently present in the U.S. economy. No matter how you slice or dice the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Chain Price Index, its annualized growth has not trended above 2% since 2011.

I don’t want to be glib, but our educational system is largely a failure in producing children and young adults ready for the future. Why we would think that more of that would be useful? What we need to do is completely rethink the whole concept of what we call education.

For some time now I have been concerned about the state of American competitiveness looking out a decade ahead. Innovation has been the lifeblood of our economic success, and nowhere has this been more apparent than in information technology since the advent of the Internet and the Smartphone. China has risen from being a largely agricultural economy when Mao died in 1976 to become the second most important economy in the world today. Still, many thought leaders believe its growth, even at modest rates, is unsustainable and that the country is good at copying the technology of others, but not as strong as an innovator of fundamental technologies on its own.

Dan Fuss has established himself as one of the most respected bond investors in the industry over his 60-year tenure. In a talk last week, Fuss warned investors of geopolitical uncertainty and higher rates in credit markets.

Recent data have supported our view that the drivers of the US economy’s solid expansion remain in place, and should allow the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to move further toward its goal of normalizing interest rates. Some data releases have clearly been skewed by the recent major hurricanes, but we feel any negative impact on the economy is likely to be transient and outweighed by demand arising from reconstruction.

The modest growth rate is contributing to the length of the current economic expansion, and American households are in the best financial shape in years. Our 3Q17 Quarterly Update report discusses the economic expansion and its impact on equities, fixed income, and more.

Currency Strategist Van Luu shows how thoughtful management of currency risks and opportunities may help reach investing objectives, despite the low return environment.

Beyond all the twists, turns, and quirks in the economic data reports, the overall picture appears largely the same. Growth remains on a moderate track, somewhat beyond a long-term sustainable rate (as the job market continues to tighten).

When world leaders talk, markets react. And with social media becoming mainstream, politicians have a new way of getting their message to the masses.

Low market correlations make it easier for active portfolio managers to stand out—positively or negatively. But what matters most is how a portfolio of select stocks performs through market cycles, regardless of correlations.

Momentum is one of the most compelling factors in theoretical long–short paper portfolios, but live results of momentum strategies fall short of theoretical returns. Thoughtful implementation, a careful sell discipline, and an avoidance of stocks with stale momentum can narrow the gap between paper and live results.

What should fixed income investors expect in 2018? In this white paper, Mary Ellen Stanek, CFA, shares Baird Advisors’ annual investment outlook, makes a case for “lower and longer” economic growth, and identifies headwinds that could present challenges for market participants in the new year.

None of the factors consistently generated positive performance during recent market crashes. However, almost any factor exposure would have increased the risk-return ratio of an equity-centric portfolio. Low Volatility and Mean-Reversion would have been most beneficial. Momentum least.

Morningstar’s Fund Manager of the Year is one of the most coveted awards in the mutual fund industry. Indeed, fund companies devote enormous resources to promoting award recipients. But should advisors invest their clients’ funds with those winners?

Current market valuations are consistent with negative expected returns for the S&P 500 over the coming 10-12 years, with a likely market loss of more than -60% in the interim.

Are high-quality businesses as overvalued as the broader markets and will that bode ill for our future investment returns?

Last Month in Perspective: The convoy of developed world central banks reducing policy accommodation appeared to gather steam. Global political developments continued to capture headlines. Interest rates moved higher on the hawkish tilt in central bank rhetoric, and equities gained on generally positive economic data.

Generating consistent returns under uncertain conditions is a challenge. Can multi-asset strategies make the job a little easier? We think so. But a lot depends on how they’re designed.

The worst economic recovery of the post-war period will continue to be restrained by a consumer sector burdened by paltry income growth, a low and falling saving rate, and an increasingly restrictive Federal Reserve policy. Additionally, with the extremely high level of U.S. government debt and deteriorating fiscal situation, the economy is unlikely to benefit from any debt-financed tax changes. Finally, from a longer-term perspective, the recent natural disasters are an additional constraint on economic growth.