Tag Archive: Investing

Election Day! Plan For Volatility

2024-11-05

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2024-11-05

With Election Day finally here, markets are bracing for potential volatility. History shows that the stock market can react unpredictably to election outcomes, especially when the results are unclear or contested. In past elections, sudden policy shifts, political uncertainty, or contentious outcomes caused heightened volatility—making it essential to prepare your portfolio now to weather whatever the day brings. The S&P 500 has averaged a...

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Corporate Buybacks: A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

2024-11-01

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2024-11-01

Corporate buybacks have become a hot topic, drawing criticism from regulators and policymakers. In recent years, Washington, D.C., has considered proposals to tax or limit them. Historically, buybacks were banned as a form of market manipulation, but in 1982, the SEC legalized open-market repurchases through Rule 10b-18. Although intended to offer companies flexibility in managing …

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Corporate Buybacks: A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

2024-11-01

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2024-11-01

Corporate buybacks have become a hot topic, drawing criticism from regulators and policymakers. In recent years, Washington, D.C., has considered proposals to tax or limit them. Historically, buybacks were banned as a form of market manipulation, but in 1982, the SEC legalized open-market repurchases through Rule 10b-18. Although intended to offer companies flexibility in managing capital, buybacks have evolved into tools often serving executive...

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Can Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller Be Wrong?

2024-10-30

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2024-10-30

Can famed investors Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller, who recently proclaimed they are short bonds, thus betting on higher yields, be wrong? Instead of mindlessly assuming such legendary investors are correct, let's do some homework. First, though, let's remind ourselves that Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller are known for their aggressive trading styles. …

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Can Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller Be Wrong?

2024-10-30

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2024-10-30

Can famed investors Paul Tudor Jones and Stan Druckenmiller, who recently proclaimed they are short bonds, thus betting on higher yields, be wrong? Instead of mindlessly assuming such legendary investors are correct, let’s do some homework. First, though, let’s remind ourselves that Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller are known for their aggressive trading styles. Therefore, we don’t know whether their bets are short term trades for a...

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Key Market Indicators for November 2024

2024-10-29

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2024-10-29

Key market indicators for November 2024 present a complex but opportunity-filled environment for traders and investors. Following the first phase of Federal Reserve rate cuts and growing global uncertainties, the technical landscape suggests several notable shifts. Let’s explore the key market indicators to watch. Note: If you are unfamiliar with basic technical analysis, this video is a short tutorial. Seasonality and Breakout...

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Lower Forward Returns Are A High Probability Event

2024-10-25

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2024-10-25

I was emailed several times about a recent Morningstar article about J.P. Morgan’s warning of lower forward returns over the next decade. That was followed up by numerous emails about Goldman Sachs’ recent warnings of 3% annualized returns over the next decade. While we have previously covered many of these article’s points, a comprehensive analysis is needed. Let’s start with the overall conclusion from JP Morgan’s article: “The...

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Memory Inflation Warps Bond Yields

2024-10-23

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2024-10-23

The Mayo Clinic defines Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as “a mental health condition that’s caused by an extremely stressful or terrifying event — either being part of it or witnessing it.” Within the field of PTSD research is a concept called “memory inflation.” Memory inflation occurs when memories of traumatic events become more intense over time.    Memory inflation of past events amplifies one’s emotions and behaviors. As we will...

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Seasonality: Buy Signal And Investing Outcomes

2024-10-22

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2024-10-22

Seasonality has long influenced stock market trends, offering insights into predictable cycles of strength and weakness throughout the year. Yale Hirsch, the creator of the Stock Trader’s Almanac, is one of the most well-known contributors to studying these patterns. His research has highlighted that certain periods of the year consistently present better opportunities for investors to generate returns, while other times warrant caution. The...

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Bastiat And The “Broken Window”

2024-10-18

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2024-10-18

In times of disaster and destruction, a common narrative often emerges that rebuilding efforts will lead to economic growth. The idea that repairing damage and replacing destroyed goods creates jobs that spur consumption and stimulate economic activity is tempting. However, as French economist Frédéric Bastiat explained in his famous “Broken Window Theory,” this reasoning is fundamentally flawed. Rather than generating net economic benefits,...

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The VIX And Market Climb: Should We Care?

2024-10-16

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2024-10-16

The financial media frequently opines on what the daily gyrations of the VIX (implied volatility index) signal regarding investor sentiment. Despite how often it is quoted and discussed, many investors do not truly appreciate what implied volatility measures. We take this opportunity to help you better understand implied volatility. Furthermore, we discuss other lesser-followed measures of implied volatility that help better assess whether...

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Greed And How To Lose 100% Of Your Money

2024-10-15

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2024-10-15

In the movies, greed is a trait often exhibited by the rich and powerful as a means to an end. Of particular note is the famous quote from Michael Douglas in the 1987 movie classic “Wall Street:” “The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.

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GDP Report Continues To Defy Recession Forecasts

2024-10-11

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2024-10-11

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released its second-quarter GDP report for 2024, showcasing a 2.96% growth rate. This number has sparked discussions among investors and analysts, particularly those predicting an imminent recession. There are certainly many supportive data points that have historically predicted recessionary downturns. The reversal of the yield curve inversion, the 6-month rate of change in the leading economic index,...

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Are Agency REITs Right For Your Portfolio?

2024-10-09

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2024-10-09

Numerous reader requests following our article, Agency REITs For A Bull Steepener, prompted us to write this follow-up with more detail about how to analyze agency REITs. This article doesn’t recommend specific agency REITs, but it does lay out some of the fundamental basics of the largest publicly traded agency REITs. In doing so, this analysis and the prior article provide a solid foundation for further evaluating agency REITs. Before diving...

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How Howard Marks Thinks About Risk…And You Should Too

2024-10-08

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2024-10-08

When most people hear the word “risk,” they think about wild market swings, scary headlines, and losing money overnight, but Howard Marks, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Oaktree Capital Management, takes a different approach. In his new video series How to Think About Risk, Marks digs deep into what risk is and how investors should handle it. Spoiler alert: It’s not just about volatility. The CFA Institute recently summarized the video stream,...

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Election Outcome Presents Opportunity For Investors

2024-10-04

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2024-10-04

As the November 2024 election draws near, the election outcome will profoundly affect the financial markets. Whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins the presidency, each administration will bring distinct policies creating investment opportunities and potential risks for investors.

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A Crystal Ball Isnt Enough: The Importance Of Context

2024-10-02

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2024-10-02

On September 18, 2024, the headlines read the Fed cut the Fed Funds rate by 50 basis points. At first blush, one would think that a trader with a crystal ball a couple of days before the Fed action would buy bonds and lick their chops over the money they would soon make. In this case, the crystal ball was a curse. Bond yields rose following the rate cut despite what many investment professionals perceive to be a bullish event. If you scour the...

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The “Everything Market” Could Last A While Longer

2024-10-01

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2024-10-01

We are currently in the “everything market.” It doesn’t matter what you have probably invested in; it is currently increasing in value. However, it isn’t likely for the reasons you think. A recent Marketwatch interview with the always bullish Jim Paulson got his reasoning for the rally. “It is this cocktail of ‘full support’ at the front end of a bull market which commonly has created an ‘Everything Market’ during the early part of a new bull....

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Tax Cuts – An Examination Of The 2017 TCJA Impact

2024-09-27

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2024-09-27

An analysis of Presidential Candidate Trump’s policy proposals recently suggests that tax cuts will increase the deficit. While the raw analysis is correct, as it subtracts the potential for reduced tax collections from the tariff revenue, it ignores the impact on economic growth. There is much rhetoric about the impact of tax cuts, mostly centering around “only benefitting the rich.” While it may seem that “the rich” are the ones who...

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Agency REITs For A Bull Steepener

2024-09-25

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2024-09-25

In our recent two-part series on the yield curve (Part One  Part Two) we discussed the four predominant yield curve shifts and what they imply about economic activity and monetary policy. Additionally, given the current bullish steepening trend of the yield curve, we provided data on how prior bull steepening environments impacted various stock indexes, sectors, and factors. Missing from our analysis was a discussion of a specific type of REIT...

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