How bad is the current correction? It depends upon the assets you currently hold.
Here are the top 8 ETF positions for moderate risk clients at my Registered Investment Adviser, Pacific Park Financial, Inc.:
Moderate Portfolio: Percentages Below Respective Highs
Approx %
Vanguard High Dividend Yield (VYM)
-4.0%
iShares High Yield Corporate Bond (HYG)
-2.5%
iShares S&P Growth Allocation (AOR)
-3.4%
Vanguard Total U.S. Stock Market (VTI)
-6.4%
iShares [...] Continue Reading...
There are times when the U.S. dollar tells investors all they need to know… at least in the short term. For example, the fact that the PowerShares DB US$ Dollar Bullish Fund (UUP) gained ground for 9 consecutive days is an expression of serious doubt in Europe’s finances as well as its leadership. Indeed, the almighty buck [...] Continue Reading...
I’ve never been shy about criticizing the momentum-based mutual fund ratings or fair value estimates at Morningstar. At this moment, however, it’s the cynic in me — not the critic — who is taking note of a “NEW” section at the information provider’s web site.
Until recently, major tabs at the Morningstar home page included “Stocks,” “Funds” [...] Continue Reading...
Foreign stocks returned to their winning ways in the first 10 weeks of 2012. By mid-March, however, economic data out of China started to demonstrate sluggishness. A rapid rise in Spanish bond yields began threatening the country’s ability to manage its own finances. And European interbank lending ground to a halt.
Nevertheless, as recently as Tuesday (May 1), many commentators [...] Continue Reading...
On Tuesday, 5/1/2012, CNBC trumpeted the Dow’s highest close since December of 2007. On Wednesday, the media giant celebrated the price-weighted index’s ability to shrug off weaker-than-anticipated employment data in the United States.
There are reasons to be pleased with the progress of U.S. stocks in 2012. My clients continue to benefit from exposure to risk assets like Vanguard High [...] Continue Reading...
Doug Kass, prominent helmsman at Seabreeze Partners and frequent commentator at CNBC, embraces social media. In fact, Mr. Kass tweets roughly 8-10 times throughout the day.
Yesterday (4/30), Mr. Kass tweeted that his largest investment was short bonds, and he listed Inverse Bond ETFs like ProShares UltraShort 20+ Treasury (TBT) and ProShares Short 20+ Treasury (TBF). This morning (5/1), [...] Continue Reading...
The iShares 20+ U.S. Treasury Bond Fund (TLT) has often exhibited wider daily trading swings than the S&P 500 SPDR Trust (SPY). This quirk alone has made it difficult for me to embrace the long end of the treasury bond curve.
Instead, I’ve been more apt to stick with intermediate investment grade corporate credit, as well as short-term and long-term high [...] Continue Reading...
Last year, world equity markets obsessed over the movement of sovereign debt yields in Portugal and Greece. Here in 2012, Spanish and Italian bond yields have risen enough to scare investors back into the perceived safety of U.S. treasuries. In fact, iShares Barclays 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund (IEF) is near 52-week highs.
Unfortunately, concerns about the 3rd and 4th [...] Continue Reading...
How does the state of California intend to combat its exorbitant debts? Left-leaning leaders have proposed higher income taxes on the “rich” as well as increasing sales tax rates.
Unfortunately, California already sits near the top of the country’s taxation ladder. At present, top marginal bracket payers are shelling out nearly 10%… close to 3x the [...] Continue Reading...
The Dow and the S&P 500 may have experienced the worst 2-week losses since November. Still, is it really time to panic? When one considers the reality that the major averages are less than -4% from multi-year highs, abandoning stock assets seems a bit premature. That said, you may want to avoid certain investments.
For example, [...] Continue Reading...
