The last two years have done little to instill investor confidence, and the past nine months have likely made the situation worse. To be sure, the most recent survey by AAII (American Association of Individual Investors) shows the % bullish levels similar to when the markets were near their lows in February. According to a recent study by State Street, investors continue to be wary about reinvesting in the market as show by cash holdings of nearly 40% in their portfolios. Click to read more!
6. Experiencing Economic Vertigo: How to Stomach Market Indigestion
Vertigo is a condition that makes people feel like objects around them are spinning when they are not, and it generally leaves people feeling dizzy. Recently it hit me that trying to analyze U.S. economic data was giving me vertigo, since the only consistency in the data seems to be pure inconsistency. For instance, yesterday I was parsing a few data points that registered on the Bloomberg. Here’s a smattering of what gave me market indigestion. Click to read more!
7. Sector Watch: Tactical Investment Opportunities Around Q1 Earnings Season
A key component of successful goals-based investing is to think opportunistically. Tactical investment strategies designed to capture upside returns and minimize downside risk are integral to investors’ ability to grow, protect and spend their wealth in pursuit of their unique goals. Click to read more!
8. Why Volatility Can Be a Drag for Investors
Read the fine print of the disclosures of a leveraged exchange traded fund and you’ll probably come across something like the following: “This leveraged ETF seeks a return that is +200% or -200% of the return of its benchmark index for a single day. The ETF should not be expected to provide double or negative twice times the return of the benchmark’s cumulative return for periods greater than a day.” Click to read more!
9. Asset Allocations: Looking To Real Estate Investment Trusts
In our latest adjustment to the asset allocation portfolios, we added to the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) positions in three of the four models. One of the reasons we remain friendly to this asset class has been the steady increase in rental income. Click to read more!
10. Some Things Never Change in Investing…or Do They?
A popular debate in the asset management industry is “passive” vs. “active” investing. Index-based investment vehicles have gathered a significant amount of assets over the last decade, to the detriment of active investing, perpetuating this debate even further. Click to read more!