Banks are happy to lend to you when you don’t need the money. For many companies that’s exactly what’s happening as today’s rates are too low to pass up. The Wall Street Journal reports here on the current releveraging. Five years after excessive debt propelled a housing-market collapse into a financial crisis and recession, similar […]
Investing
Record Low Rates
“In my 30-year career, I’ve never seen nonconforming loans priced below conforming loans,” said Brad Blackwell, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Welcome to Bernanke’s world where the well-heeled can get a Jumbo mortgage rate lower than a conforming one. This puts a hurt on the one group, first time buyers, that Bernanke […]
When Genius Failed
About a third of all hedge funds use a “relative value” arbitrage strategy. The key ingredient being leverage, which is used to suck-up nickels from around the world like a new Dyson DC47 vac. The strategy may look good on paper, but turns ugly when real life gets in the way. As an 80-year old […]
Dow Down 4.3%
This is the Fed’s market. The carnage in the foreign exchange market is proof positive that Bernanke and Co. is in way over its head. Meanwhile the Dow is down 4.3% in August and on its way to its worst month since May 2012. Steve Russolillo explains in the Wall Street Journal: The uncertainty explains […]
The World is Going to Change
The investing world is going to change in a few weeks when companies like PIMCO are allowed to sell alternative products to retail investors. These products are going to be snapped up by the uninitiated hoping for a higher return…for a fee of course. Has everyone forgotten 2008?
Safe Haven
Gold is your insurance policy for your portfolio. It acts as a counterbalance when investors smell fear and bail out of stocks. That’s exactly what’s happening now. Too bad for those who sold their safe haven investment at the bottom. Claudia Carpenter and Phoebe Sedgmann write at Bloomberg: Gold climbed to a three-month high in […]
Activist Investor
Where’s the fiduciary responsibility to taxpayers? Susan Combs eviscerates activist investor behavior by public pension funds in today’s Wall Street Journal. It seems we’re living in the era of the “activist” investor. Not long ago, people who used their few shares to push a point at shareholder meetings may have been marginalized as oddballs. Today, […]
Barron’s Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors in America
I am pleased to announce that for the third straight year our conservative family investment management firm has been named in Barron’s prestigious top investment managers list. Our firm’s inclusion is especially significant due to the bubble nature of the financial markets. We are undoubtedly one of a small handful of top advisors who do […]
The Kings of Real Estate
Ben Bernanke’s low interest rates haven’t made life any easier for first-time home buyers. It’s almost impossible for this group to get a mortgage, never mind trying to compete with the well healed private equity guys. Cash is king in bidding wars and Wall Street has plenty of cash thanks to Bernanke & Co.’s free […]
Have You Forgotten 2008?
As you chart your investment course it’s crucial that you position yourself to be able to live to fight another day. With the Fed’s zero percent interest rate policy it’s easy to forget the importance of bonds in your portfolio. And with the end of 2013 in sight, mutual fund companies are licking their chops […]
