Russia to U.S.: Sanctions Would Crash Your Financial System
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teegardin/ Over the past few months, the situation in Ukraine has devolved from political unrest to the brink of violent military action. Russian paramilitary...
View ArticleDo Low Bond Risk Premiums Predict Financial Instability?
Source: Thinkstock One reason that many monetary policy hawks cite for raising the target federal funds rate sooner rather than later is that risk premiums on bonds could spike sharply when the central...
View ArticleWhy the U.S. Is Not the World’s Best Investment Opportunity
There are six countries that are better investments than the U.S., despite its strong stock market now. Why? We have too many regulations and taxes that limit America’s economic, hence stock market,...
View ArticleThe Role of Oil Prices in Global Financial Markets
Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images There is, to those of a somewhat romantic bent, an inherent beauty in financial markets. Even just simple supply and demand has an appealing logic. As demand for a...
View ArticleWhat Great Rotation? The Stock Market is Still Incredibly Risky
The epic bond rally that began in the early 1980s seems about to end, as the Federal Reserve eyes raising interest rates. So investors keep hearing about a so-called Great Rotation out of bonds into...
View ArticleCurbing Interest Rate Shock
What are the best bond investing strategies for retirees amid rising interest rates? There are two. I like to call them the “stuff in between” strategies, because they fall between bonds (whose values...
View ArticleWhat a Strong Dollar Means for You and the Economy
Among all the ebb and flow of financial news, what is important and what isn’t? Definitely important: the dollar’s rise. This doesn’t easily lend itself to TV visuals, but it should have a big impact...
View ArticleThe End of an Era: How To Live In a Volatile Market
Volatility, on vacation for most of the past few years, is back this fall. It hit a new 52-week high in mid-October, double the level of August. That means change is afoot in the market, whose rally...
View ArticleWhy You Have No Reason to Fear the Fed
One day, the Federal Reserve’s long-running stimulus will end – and that provokes a lot of investor anxiety. Fortunately, those fears are overblown. The end of the stimulus means that interest rates...
View ArticleWhy You Should Tune Out Financial Forecasters
This early in the new year, you see many money articles containing the word “prediction.” As Joshua M. Brown points out in his most recent book, Clash of the Financial Pundits, market forecasters love...
View ArticleThe Fed May Have Saved Pensions in 2013
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/ Pension funds were in bad shape at the end of 2012. According to an estimate by JPMorgan obtained by the Wall Street Journal, corporate-sector...
View ArticleForeign Investors Look for Safe Bets in U.S. Securities
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/epsos/ Foreign residents increased their holdings of U.S. securities in July, according to the Treasury International Capital report. The U.S. Treasury reports net...
View ArticleBernanke Prepares for Final Press Conference: All Eyes on Fed
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23165290@N00/ The eye of the market is on the U.S. Federal Reserve. Policymakers will conclude a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, and the air is dense with...
View ArticleBernanke: Santa Claus or The Grinch?
I’ve written plenty about my thoughts on the Fed and all the blathering from the media talking heads. Debates about the timing and probability of a Fed “taper” decision came to a crescendo in the...
View Article5 Most Searched-For Stocks of 2013
Source: Iman Mosaad / Flickr At the end of each year, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) compiles the Zeitgeist. Google uses the search data it collected for the year to find out what the most popular searches were...
View ArticleMeeting of Economists: What’s Up for Discussion?
The American Economic Association is meeting over the weekend to discuss a long list of topics regarding the American economy — but the events of 2007 through 2009 are still likely to be of extreme...
View ArticleByron Wien: 10 Predictions About the World Economy in 2014
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zemistor/ Byron Wien is one those economic, financial, and political thinkers who looks like a mad genius on a good day and simply like a mad man on a bad day....
View ArticleFed President Williams: Stimulus Program ‘Potent But Blunt’
San Francisco’s Federal Reserve President, John Williams, recently authored a new paper that expressed doubts as to the sensibility of retaining the bond buying program — pointing to low short-term...
View ArticleFinancial Markets: Turbulence or Nosedive?
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hugokernel/ We’ve all been there on that rocky plane ride — clammy hands, heart beating rapidly, teeth clenched, body frozen, while firmly bracing the armrests....
View ArticleDo Low Bond Risk Premiums Predict Financial Instability?
Source: Thinkstock One reason that many monetary policy hawks cite for raising the target federal funds rate sooner rather than later is that risk premiums on bonds could spike sharply when the...
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