On Wednesday, 5/8/2013, U.S. stocks recorded gains for a 5th consecutive session. In fact, the S&P 500 logged its 12th gain in 14 trading days, rising 6% since a mid-April hiccup and reaching yet another all-time peak. Equally intriguing, the last week has witnessed a renewed interest in foreign equities. In spite of a deepening recession [...] Continue Reading...
According to Steven Russolillo at WSJ.com, Goldman Sachs advises investors to short gold. Granted, the yellow metal has experienced a brutal downtrend that has lasted 6 arduous months. What’s more, you may not be able to find an uglier chart on a major asset class than the one for SPDR Gold Trust Shares (GLD). If there’s [...] Continue Reading...
Bullish commentators have been busy admonishing those who might be cautious. Their reasoning? Long-term investors should focus on the signs that point to stable economic growth in the U.S., a recovery in China as well as unwavering stimulus by the Federal Reserve. Besides, with Treasuries offering more risk than reward, where else are you going [...] Continue Reading...
Investing in stock assets when the S&P 500 is hitting fresh highs can be as dangerous as driving on a yet-to-be-plowed stretch of highway. You may get to your destination without a hitch. Then again, you might spin out of control and crash. At present, both the Eurozone’s ongoing recession and “Snowmageddon” on the East Coast [...] Continue Reading...
Las Vegas odds-makers believe that the San Francisco 49ers will beat the Baltimore Ravens to win Superbowl XLVII this Sunday, February 3. That’s what is implied by a 4-point spread. In contrast, if the professionals did not feel that the 49ers had a definitive edge, there would neither be a spread nor a so-called “favorite.” And [...] 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...
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...
It’s a funny thing managing money for families, small businesses and high net worth individuals. One minute, you can be helping them overcome the terror of a 5% portfolio pullback in a world that appears bent on self-destruction. (”OMG… Greece is going to default…war is going to erupt in the Middle East!”) The next minute, you [...] Continue Reading...
There are many times when it makes sense to choose an unconventional investing path. For example, last year, scores of prominent voices insisted that interest rates would rise. “Bond King” Bill Gross denounced U.S. government debt. Heck, S&P even downgraded it. And yet, investors who gobbled up U.S. Treasury bonds benefited from the “contrary-to-public-opinion” upside. The reasons for the unanticipated direction of yields are well-documented (e.g., expansion of the [...] Continue Reading...
