More on Related Themes
2013-03-08 Spasmodic Stupidity: The Wile E. Coyote Congress by Cliff Draughn of Excelsia Investment Advisors
I predict the Ides of March will find us in a continued sequestration, and Congress will use the time between now and the debt ceiling deadline on March 27th to debate the merits of true tax reform as opposed to governing by crisis. In the end, though, the reform conversation will revert to governance by crisis, with another stop-gap measure to avoid government shutdown during Holy Week and Easter, which will tide us over to the elections of 2014. Do you expect any different?
2013-02-21 Tapping China's Growth via Dividends by Yu Zhang of Matthews Asia
When the long-term historical performance of global equity markets is considered, investors can see that the contribution of dividends to total return is significant. In this regard, China has been no exception. Between 1999 and 2012, 46% of the total return of the MSCI China Index was derived from dividends received and reinvested. This month, Yu Zhang, CFA, explores the ways in which a dividend-investing approach can be an effective investment strategy in China.
2012-11-07 October Surprise by Douglas Cote of ING Investment Management
Third quarter earnings growth for S&P 500 companies is at risk of being negative for the first time in three years. While the presidential election is important, Congress will ultimately control spending and tax legislation. Monetary stimulus alone is both inadequate and unsustainable; pro-growth taxation, spending and regulatory policy is key to our economic revival.
2012-10-31 Switch: Business Confidence Sinks While Consumer Confidence Lifts by Liz Ann Sonders of Charles Schwab
A wide gap has developed between sagging business confidence and improving consumer confidence...and the election and fiscal cliff appear to be the culprits.
2012-10-12 Teetering on the Edge? by Liz Ann Sonders, Brad Sorensen, Michelle Gibley of Charles Schwab
Concerns about a possible US recession remain elevated in light of the pending "fiscal cliff," resulting in some lackluster stock market action. The fiscal cliff and uncertainty around tax and regulatory policy appear to be influencing business decisions to the detriment of economic growth. While worst-case scenarios for Europe may have been taken off the table by the ECB, Spain's reluctance to ask for aid is causing consternation. And although we see continued weak growth in China, signs indicate the global slowdown may be turning around.
2012-09-14 Central Banks Take Center Stage by Liz Ann Sonders, Brad Sorensen and Michelle Gibley of Charles Schwab
Accommodative central banks have traditionally been good for equities and stocks have responded positively to recent action. However, each market reaction to US Fed action has been shorter in length and challenges persist. Although recent economic data has been beating relatively low expectations, it is still not meeting the Fed's hopes. We appreciate the sentiment of wanting to stimulate growth, but the Fed's power is limited. It's down the street in Washington where the real power to stimulate growth lies.
2012-09-07 The ECB: No Rest for the Weary by Carl Tannenbaum of Northern Trust
The economic picture in Europe is worsening, exposing flaws in the foundation of the euro compact. The European Central Bank is trying its best, but remains hindered by its charter. European policy makers should focus on stabilizing the situation first, and seeking retribution later.
2012-08-14 Blind Faith by Michael Lewitt (Article)
Central banks are facing political and practical obstacles that will render it very difficult for them to deliver anything more than anodyne words and actions as summer moves into the always dangerous August holiday season. IPhones should be kept on alert at the beach through Labor Day.
2012-06-12 Kingdoms of the Blind by Michael Lewitt (Article)
Recent events offer a rare illustration of the combined effects of the failure of monetary, fiscal and regulatory policy to coordinate a meaningful response. Rising budget deficits, record low interest rates, J.P. Morgan's proprietary trading blunder and the botched Facebook IPO process speak to abject policy failures in virtually every aspect of finance. It's not even a question of not having learned our lessons; our collective policy intelligence actually appears to have diminished.
2012-03-05 Beyond Risk-on/Risk-off: Paying Heed to Peripheral Cues in Portfolio Construction by Vineer Bhansali of PIMCO
The availability of high-frequency information, technological advances in electronic trading and the dominance of government and regulatory policy factors made the world since the crisis of 2008 a risk-on/risk-off environment. In January 2012, S&P 500 implied correlations began to fall. It appears that stocks are beginning to take a bit more of their individuality back so that other assets dont move in lock step. Investors may benefit from a focus on policymakers, relative value opportunities, hedging potential left tail events, and diversification.
2011-12-01 Europe - No More Tricks in the Keynesian Bag by Brian S. Wesbury of First Trust Advisors
There are only two ways out. Austerity-spend less than you take in and use the difference to pay down debt. Or default-like Greece. The stand-up thing to do is austerity. You borrowed the money, you should repay it. The Continent has known for a long time that growth rates were weak and that pension funds were underfunded. While government can and should do certain things, modern day politicians around the world have pushed it so far that government spending has become harmful to economic growth. The obvious question at this point is whether or not the US has reached this point?
2011-08-20 The Recession of 2011? by John Mauldin of Millennium Wave Advisors
If we are headed into recession, and I think we are, then the stock market has a long way to go to reach its next bottom, as do many risk assets. Income is going to be king, as well as cash. Well know several things. Recessions are by definition deflationary. Yields on bonds will go down, much further than the market thinks today. And while the Fed may decide to invoke QE3 to fight a deflation scare, the problem is not one of liquidity; it is a debt problem.
2011-07-12 Making the U.S. Dollar Safer: Return OF Your Money by Axel Merk of Merk Funds
Money market funds try to keep a stable net asset value by employing what is called amortized cost accounting: the market value is ignored, assuming the issuer of the debt will pay in full. The justification for this practice is that money market funds invest in highly rated securities of extremely short duration. That may be correct, but in case of a systemic shock and a flight from money market funds, there is a risk that money market funds would need to liquidate holdings at a loss; additionally, an outright default cannot be ruled out in light of the Lehman Brothers experience.
2011-06-14 The Consequences of Policy Failure by Michael Lewitt (Article)
Investment performance for the rest of the year will be determined by the macro-economic views of investment managers. While microeconomic factors are always extremely important in charting investment strategies, they are particularly important today as the U.S. and global economies continue to fight their way through the detritus of the global debt crisis. A compelling case can be made for weaker 2Q112 growth based on a combination of factors.
2011-06-09 Bernanke - It\'s Complicated! by Axel Merk of Merk Funds
Get ready for more money to be printed – this time not to subsidize but to stem against the credit destruction caused by the Fed itself. Tuesday evening at the International Monetary Conference in Atlanta, J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon gave a list of changes that have already incurred, including: No more Special Investment Vehicles (SIVs). No more sub-prime, no more “Alt-A” mortgages. No more CDOs. Higher underwriting standards. On top of these changes, the Fed now wants to introduce 300 new regulations. Has anyone at the Fed studied what impact these regulations will have on credit?
2011-05-16 Ally Financial + ING Bank? Richard Alford on Lessons Forgotten at the Greenspan/Bernanke Fed by Team of Institutional Risk Analyst
This week in The Institutional Risk Analyst we feature a comment from Dick Alford on the lessons forgotten by the Fed when it comes to financial regulation. Showing his considerate nature, Dick even uses the official histories of past crises prepared by the FDIC as the timeline to make it easier for some of our former colleagues at the Fed to follow along. But first, let's have some fun with one of the toys developed for The IRA Bank Monitor, namely our pro forma M&A analysis tool.
2011-03-29 Letter to the Editor by Various (Article)
A reader writes in regard to the commentary A Crime Called Private Mortgage Insurance, by Chris Whalen of the Institutional Risk Analyst, which was published on March 23.
2011-02-22 John Campbell on the Proposed Squam Lake Reforms - Video by Dan Richards (Article)
In this interview, John Campbell, chairman of the economics department at Harvard, discusses his research into the underlying drivers of securities prices, and the key recommendations for reforming the financial system, based on his participation in the Squam Lake Group. This is a video of the interview.
2011-01-25 The Case for a Retirement Plan by American Century Investments (Article)
Defined contribution plan sponsors have an opportunity to improve retirement readiness for participants by rebooting their existing plan using target-date funds as a qualified default investment alternative (QDIA). This is made possible by the Pension Protection Act of 2006, giving certain diversified, long-term investment products QDIA status. Senior Vice President Rich Weiss and Client Portfolio Manager Nancy Pilotte make a case for re-evaluating existing retirement plans for a potential reboot using target-date funds as a default investment option.
2011-01-15 Thinking the Unthinkable by John Mauldin of Millennium Wave Advisors
Mauldin criticizes Bernanke's comment that a benefit of QE2 has been rising equity prices, arguing that this would amount to a third mandate for the Fed. He commends Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed for his comments that monetary policy is not a tool to solve the country's fiscal problems. Mauldin then says that a big treat to his growth forecast is continued sovereign debt problems in Europe. Lastly, he questions whether China can engineer a soft landing for its economy, given rising inflation.
2010-12-22 The Year in Review by Doug MacKay of Broadleaf Partners
For 2011, we believe this trend of bond outflows and equity inflows will likely continue, overwhelming any concerns about valuations or fundamentals. In the short run, I've come to realize that fund flows, or investor desires for specific favored asset classes over others - tends to exacerbate price movements in both directions, often for much longer than most expect. I see great things for the stock market in 2011. While an improving economy will help, a shakeout in bonds may be just what the doctor ordered to get investors truly interested in stocks again.
2010-12-14 Looking Back at a Year of Policy Mistakes by Michael Lewitt (Article)
As we approach the end of 2010, the global economy remains captive to a boom-and-bust cycle resulting from years of pro-cyclical monetary, fiscal and regulatory policies. With very limited exceptions, the same policies that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis remain in place. The only difference is that government balance sheets are far more leveraged than they were heading into that crisis.
2010-10-12 Beggar Thy Neighbor, Beggar Thyself by Michael Lewitt (Article)
In the latest edition of the HCM Market Letter, Michael Lewitt argues that reported attempts by countries to devalue their currencies will only result in higher inflation and not economic growth. QE2 will similarly fail, and the necessary "heavy lifting" for the economy should be through fiscal, not monetary, policy. A continuation of Keynesian policies, as advocated by Paul Krugman, will also fail. Lewitt warns of dangers in ETFs and offers his investment recommendations.
2010-09-07 It's a Depression and Other Thoughts by David A. Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff
This is what a depression is all about - an economy that 33 months after a recession begins, with zero policy rates, a stuffed central bank sheet, and a 10 percent deficit-to-GDP ratio, is still in need of government help for its sustenance. We had this nutty debate on Friday on Bloomberg Radio in which another economist claimed that there was no evidence of any indicator pointing to renewed economic contraction. And yet, that very day, the ECRI leading economic index came in at a recessionary -10.1 percent print for last week.
2010-08-27 Double-Dip Economy: Does Quantitative Easing Really Matter? by Christopher Whalen of Institutional Risk Analyst
While the financial markets await the latest pronouncement from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the Institutional Risk Analyst features a comment from friend and former colleague at the FRBNY Richard Alford. He asks whether any of the policy options being considered by the U.S. central bank are meaningful to the American economy. As Paul Krugman wrote in the New York Times on Friday, 'policy makers are in denial.'
2010-08-02 Will Basel III Crush the Global Economy? by Christopher Whalen of Institutional Risk Analyst
This piece features a comment by Richard Alford on the evolving rules for the new Basel capital framework. Investors and bankers alike need to pay more attention to the machinations in the Swiss city of Basel to develop new bank capital guidelines, standards which could greatly constrict the supply of credit in industrial nations in the coming years. Christopher Whalen also comments on Q2 2010 bank stress test ratings, Japan, technology and the housing market.
2010-07-27 Robert Shiller: A Cautious Outlook for Stocks (Video) by Dan Richards (Article)
Dan Richards recently spoke with Robert Shiller, the Yale economist who foresaw the financial crisis and created the Case-Shiller housing index. Shiller discusses the potential for a double-dip recession, valuations in the US equity market, and the outlook for a housing recovery. This is the video of the interview.
2010-06-01 Equity Income Targets Utilities by Philip Sundell, CFA (Article)
Natural gas local distribution companies are appealing utility business models to conservative equity investors. They tend to have stable earnings and stronger balance sheets. Philip Sundell of American Century Investments discusses his overall outlook for utilities in this interview. We thank American Century for their sponsorship.
2010-05-04 Investors Face a New Health Care Landscape: An Interview with Michael Liss by American Century Investments (Article)
After a year of intense partisan combat and fiery debates on Capitol Hill, President Obama signed a massive, nearly $1 trillion health care bill on March 23 that reshapes an industry that accounts for one-sixth of the U.S. economy. No one at American Century Investments® has followed the health care reform bill more closely than Michael Liss, vice president and portfolio manager for American Century Value, the company's flagship value portfolio, and he offers his thoughts on legislation. We thank American Century Investments for their sponsorship.
2010-04-21 Republicans Now Favored to Take Back the House? by Team of Bespoke Investment Group
Intrade.com has contracts on whether the Republicans or Democrats will control the U.S. House of Representatives following the 2010 midterm elections. While the Democrats currently hold a large majority in the House, the odds for them retaining that majority after 2010 have been declining over the past year or so. As of today, the Republicans are now favored to win a majority in the House after the 2010 elections. The current odds based on Intrade's contract prices are 50.1 percent for a Republican majority and 45 percent for a Democratic majority.
2010-03-31 Corporate Cost Of Health Care: Announced Charges as of 3/31 by Team of Bespoke Investment Group
Since Congress passed the health care reform bill on March 21st, we have seen numerous companies announce that they will take charges to earnings. The charges stem from one aspect of the legislation that eliminates deductions for tax-free subsidies companies receive from the government for providing prescription drug benefits to retirees. Due to the material and quantifiable impact that the bill will have on their business and financial results, the companies are required by law to disclose it. So far at least fourteen companies have announced charges totaling at least $1.6 billion.
2010-03-23 Financial Reform and the Fiduciary Standard by Tom Brakke (Article)
In this guest contribution, Tom Brakke of TJB Advisors updates the status of financial reform and, in particular, the fiduciary standard. This article is geared to clients, not advisors, and it may help you formulate your communications with your clients.
2010-03-05 Intrade Odds for Obamacare to Become Law by 6/30/2010 by Team of Bespoke Investment Group
The odds for Obamacare to become law by June 30, 2010 jumped to 60 percent on Intrade a few days ago after the president pushed for the Senate to use reconciliation to pass reform, a procedure that requires only 51 votes and cannot be filibustered. Before then, odds ranged from 30 to 35 percent.
2009-10-27 Letters to the Editor – Michael Moore – Take This! by Various (Article)
Our article several weeks ago, Michael Moore - Take This!, drew responses from several readers, both supportive and critical of the filmmaker.
2009-05-12 The Well-Meaning by Michael Lewitt (Article)
We are once again privileged to publish the latest version of the HCM Market Letter, edited by Michael Lewitt. Lewitt's analysis and writing are a cut above virtually everything else we see, and you will enjoy reading his latest thoughts. You can also subscribe directly to his newsletter using the link at the beginning of the article.
2009-05-05 Reform and the Intellectual Chasm by Robert M. Pardes (Article)
In this guest contribution, Robert Pardes discusses the "intellectual chasm" - a professional, cultural and practical divide that has perpetuated a universal failure to fairly balance risk and reward for the benefit of the economy at large. Across the public and private sectors, this chasm lies at the root of the current financial crisis.
2009-03-24 Lessons from Madoff by Adam Jared Apt (Article)
Bernard Madoff has yet to share with the public the benefit of everything that he learned in his years of running what was likely the world's greatest Ponzi scheme ever. Perhaps he'll reveal all now that he had pleaded guilty, though that is by no means a legal requirement and he seems unlikely to do so. Nonetheless, we are already able to draw a number of lessons from this one disastrous episode in the endless history of financial scandals, says advisor Adam Apt in this guest contribution.
