There are serious signs of stress in the US money markets. Commercial paper and LIBOR spreads have soared over the last couple of months to the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. The difference between LIBOR and OIS, a popular gauge of distress in the banking sector, has widened to 0.57% today from 0.10% just …
Continue reading “Does The Spike In LIBOR Signal The Next Financial Crisis?”
If you are like most investors, you probably have some extra cash sitting in your brokerage account. The cash may come from interest or dividends and may be considered temporary, it may be a result of a short-term asset allocation decisions, or it could be a strategic allocation to get exposure to fluctuating money market …
Continue reading “A Risk-Free Way To Improve Your Portfolio Return”
Many eyes are watching emerging markets economies. The economies of countries such as China, Thailand, and South Korea, along with their stock markets, soared last year and are outpacing developed markets so far in 2018. Click here to read the entire article on Forbes
U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, appeared on CNBC last Friday to talk about a variety of different issues. He spoke about the new trade tariffs, national security, and, of course, he faced the inevitable questions on interest rates. Click here to read the entire article on Forbes
The S&P 500. Bitcoin. The VIX Index. Most investors are aware of these markets and indicators that they are stretching to record levels. It is an environment ripe with optimism (some say speculation), impacting all asset classes in all geographies. Equities and bitcoin dominate the headlines, but there are other developments in the financial markets …
Continue reading “Highs & Lows: 5 Lesser-Known Markets Hitting Extremes”
Investing in emerging market local currency bonds is not easy. To be successful it requires delicately balancing exposures to credit, interest rates and currency movement. Click here to read the entire post on Forbes
Investors have a lot to be thankful for this year. Those who own risk assets are particularly happy. 2017, at least so far, has made many investors look smart: if you were invested in a diversified portfolio, chances are you are quite pleased with yourself. Click here to read the entire article on Forbes
If you had a copy of the Wall Street Journal a day in advance, do you think you could use the information to predict the direction of the stock market? It would be like shooting fish in a barrel, right? I can tell you from experience – it’s not as easy as it sounds. Click here to …
Virtually every investor has at least some exposure to investment grade fixed income. The size of the exposure is a function of investment goals, need for cash flow, and the desire for “safety.” Changing dynamics in the bond market have made such allocations riskier than in the past. Investors should beware. Click here to read …
Continue reading “Hidden Danger: The Bond Market Is Riskier Than You Think”
With the S&P 500 hitting new highs, the valuation debate is getting more intense. Some say the market is rich, pointing to lofty levels of cyclically adjusted price-earnings ratios. Others say it is fairly valued, sighting its relative cheapness to the bond market. Few will argue the equity market is complacent. Sentiment indicators, including the put/call …
Continue reading “3 Reasons The VIX Is Low And Why It May Stay That Way”
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