It's been a little over two years since SMI revamped our approach to bond investing. This change was explained in the article, Introducing an Upgrading Approach to Bond Investing that Outperforms the Bond Market. Bonds
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An “asset class” is a broad category of investments that tend to have similar risk characteristics and respond similarly to market forces. The most common classes are stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, and cash
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There are two key points to understand about yesterday's Federal Reserve decision to boost interest rates another 0.25%:
The decision to raise rates was made primarily in response to positive economic news
The markets'
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An expectation of higher interest rates is nothing new, as experts have been predicting higher rates for over a decade now. But it appears the wheels may finally be in motion to produce those long-anticipated higher rates.
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Inflation is the silent stalker of investment returns. Because it is neither paid directly, nor is it deducted—as taxes are—inflation often escapes detection even as it undercuts buying power. Even relatively low
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Our latest Bond Upgrading recommendation appears to have set off some scary triggers, at least at Fidelity. We've heard from a handful of clients that they are being asked to fill out a "Designated Investments Agreement"
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In the 1987 classic movie, The Princess Bride, there's a sequence where one of the characters keeps exclaiming, "Inconceivable!" Eventually, Inigo Montoya turns to him and says, "You keep using that word. I do not think it
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I've got a quick-hitting post for you today, mainly to put this super-cool graphic from the Wall Street Journal in front of you.
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The Federal Reserve’s desire to raise short-term interest rates has been clearly communicated for many months. It has been the key issue driving the investing markets all year (at least until last week's Brexit vote), and
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The new SMI Bond Upgrading strategy debuted at the beginning of 2015. This approach involves investing half of the bond portfolio in two “core” funds which do not change. These two funds provide stability to the portfolio.
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