Interest Rates and Negative Bond Yields
President Trump got the financial world (OK, the non-financial world too!) fired up with the following early-morning tweets today:
Category: Inflation Watch
Rate-Cut Optimism Drives S&P 500 to Milestone
The S&P 500 index briefly topped 3,000 for the first time today, driven by investor optimism that the Fed is on track to cut interest rates at the end of July.
A rate cut this month would be a pretty big deal, not so much
Yield Curve Mania Hits Stocks
The stock market suffered another day of steep losses yesterday, with the S&P 500 falling -3.2%. Small stocks were hit even harder, with the Russell 2000 down -4.4%. It was the fifth day so far in 2018 that the S&P 500 has
The Millennial Investing Crisis
The formative scars of the 2008 financial crisis have inclined many millennials (born between 1980-2000) to be more risk-averse than other post-World War II generations, favoring the safety of low-paying savings over
The Fed, Interest Rates, and the Eventual End of the Bull Market
After nine long years of Federal Reserve policies dominating the economic and investing landscape, it's understandable if many readers are experiencing acute "Fed fatigue" and have largely tuned out news relating to it.
Time and Inflation: Your Portfolio’s Best Friend vs. Its Worst Enemy
Time is Archimedes’s lever in investing. Archimedes is often quoted as saying, “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I can move the earth.” In investing, that lever is time (and the place to
“TIPS” Protect Against Inflation, Not Rising Interest Rates
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
The Bond Market Is Shouting, But Is the Fed Listening?
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
Various Takes on the Fed's Failure to Raise Rates
As is usually the case, opinion is all over the lot as to the wisdom of the Federal Reserve's decision to keep short-term interest rates at near zero levels. Here are links to (and brief excerpts from) some of the more
Has SMI’s Dynamic Asset Allocation Strategy Made Our Optional Inflation Hedges Recommendations Obsolete?
In creating the various kinds of mechanical strategies that we offer, there occasionally comes a time when an established one is superceded by a newer one. That may be the case with our Optional Inflation Hedges strategy.