The first quarter of 2013 was strong for US stocks, however, outside of our country, or across other asset classes the returns were much more sporadic and muted than one would usually expect given the strength of our market. For example, when you look at the returns of exchange traded funds for some of the…
Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) surpassed its prior record high from October of 2007. As we reach this milestone it’s a good time to evaluate if this milestone is a significant positive development, or if we should be increasingly worried because of the high levels that the market has moved to while…
In our January market insight, Michael Ball, Lead Portfolio Manager addressed the topic of how international markets have underperformed the U.S. since 2010. In addition, Michael pointed out how the U.S. was currently valued very close to its historical median valuation while other countries are significantly undervalued. Rightfully so, sitting near the bottom of the…
With 2012 now in the books, I wanted to discuss some of the important macro events that shaped the past year and highlight a couple of the important risks and opportunities that are shaping up for 2013 in regard to the financial markets. As we moved into 2012 there was significant cause for concern about…
One of the lingering effects of our last financial crisis and recession is the historically low interest rates we are currently seeing. While the current interest rate environment is quite favorable for borrowers who are able to get loans, it is another story for savers and fixed income investors who are seeing the lowest levels…
As we move into the 4th quarter of the year, we are finally drawing near the end of a long Presidential Election campaign. While the election is grabbing most of the headlines, there are some other very important factors that are going to have a significant impact on the financial markets over the next year…
As we have been going through this year we have regularly discussed the challenges that we are seeing from an increasingly evident global slowdown. We have seen the risks steadily rising and several policy responses from Central Banks around the world. With the stakes for investors in equity markets being very high, I want to…
On June 4th, 2012 Bill Gross, aka the “Bond King,” tweeted: “Global Bond Markets are turning Japanese, I think they’re turning Japanese, I really think so.” Mr. Gross was referring to the similarities between the Japanese bond market and other international bond markets which include high debt levels, extremely low and at times negative real…
Imagine if you were on a trip flying in an airplane and the engines suddenly quit. Although the plane is still making forward progress it has become uncomfortably quiet and you are beginning to descend. You know that if the engines are not restarted soon that there could be disastrous consequences. The pilot comes on…
Fittingly, déjà vu is a French term meaning “already seen.” It is the experience of thinking that a new situation had occurred before.All was quiet on the western front for the first few months of 2012, and on the surface the global economy was on the mend. However, in early May, French and Greek elections…