The calls for a correction in US stock valuations seem to grow louder by the day. Many bears point to the historically elevated price-to-earnings ratio of the S&P 500 to jump to the conclusion that stock prices must go down, and investors should brace for negative future returns for the broad equity market. Fortunately, the …
Continue reading “A Correction In Equity Valuations Does Not Have To Be Painful”
Forecasting GDP in not easy. It involves multiple variables and inputs, many of which are subject to revision. If anybody could do it well, you would think it would be the Fed, right? They have an army of staffers who spend their entire working lives looking at every piece of economic data, trying to attach …
Continue reading “Did The Fed Make A Mistake When It Raised Rates?”
It has happened to us all. We invest money with the best intentions only to discover, in hindsight, we made a huge mistake. Sometimes the mistake is legitimate- our analysis was faulty, we let our emotions get the better of us, or we just had bad luck in timing. It stings. But when we lose …
Continue reading “Too Good To Be True? How To Spot Investment Fraud”
The standard gauge of fear in the market – short-term implied equity volatility (the VIX) – recently touched an 18 month low. Some people think this is a sign of stability: the equity market has rocketed higher post-election, corporate earnings have rebounded and global growth is expected to increase. Others see the new low as a …
They say “defense wins championships” when it comes to which side of the football is responsible for securing the win in the Superbowl. It’s impossible to lose if the other team can’t score. The same concept can be applied to investing. A defensive stance in investing- one which attempts to limit losses as opposed to always …
Continue reading “Your Investment Portfolio: Time to Play Defense?”
There is an old Wall Street proverb stating “Nobody rings a bell at the top or the bottom of a market.” That’s true. But sometimes you can see and hear a crowd gathering in anticipation, and there is a growing crowd of central banks and investors preparing for the eventual burst of the bond bubble. …
As the ugly battle for the White House rages on, another war is taking place in the $2.4 trillion ETF market. Top ETF providers are in a fee-lowering race to win the title of the firm with the lowest cost core products. But one firm, Blackrock, has an edge. Read the entire article that appeared …
Cheap bonds are hard to find in a world dominated by negative short-term interest rates. Record-low yields on long-dated government bonds, corporate bonds priced to perfection and high volatility emerging market debt do not provide much potential return relative to risk. Municipal floating rate bonds are the proverbial diamond in the rough. The cheapening of the …
Continue reading “Income Investors Just Got A Gift From The SEC”
I recently was invited into a hockey locker room where an NHL sports psychologist was hired to address a team of 16-20-year-old up-and-coming players. It was the start of the season, and the coach was determined to give his team every advantage possible. Read the entire article on Forbes.
Sometimes children can really put things in perspective. They have the luxury of naivete which can often cut right to the heart of issues that cause so much concern for the rest of us. Today’s Fed meeting is one of those issues, and the conversation I had with my 12-year-old son this morning as I …
Continue reading “Reflections on the Fed from my 12-year-old”
A Featured Columnist for:
Media Interviews & Quotes include:
