The search for yield has never been tougher. The 10-year Treasury Rate is below 1% per year.
As a retiree of eight years now, with today marking Happy Medicare Day, I’m acutely aware for myself and many fellow retirees.
Fortunately, nearly all of the 140 Core Bond mutual funds through September in our Lipper (Refinitiv) database yield more than that 1%. And while none of these funds are “risk free” and many suffered drawdowns of Continue reading
The S&P 500 is once again at all-time highs.
Month ending July 2020 total return data indicated the S&P 500 index had recovered all of its March drawdown, officially marking the end of the CV-19 bear and declaring a new bull market, which began last April. Unlike bears, which are announced as soon as the market swoons 20% from previous peak, bulls are known only in retrospect … although granted definitions vary. Commonly, a bull needs to climb 20% off its last maximum drawndown and subsequently go on to achieve its next all-time high; basically, it needs to get back above water before becoming official. That happened in July.
The following table summarizes the US bear and bull markets dating back to the Great Depression, which updates the version Continue reading
“If you want to really know something you have to observe or experience it in person; if you claim to know something on the basis of hearsay, or on happening to see it in a book, you’ll be a laughingstock to those who really know.”
Jonathan D. Spence, “Emperor of China”
Sensational headlines bombard us.
Each one is an attempt to get readers, listeners, and viewers to click, tune-in or subscribe. Embedded ads populate each article … and it does not matter whether you’re a subscriber or not.
A fierce competitive landscape vies for our attention. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The Atlantic meet Apple News, Buzz Feed, Facebook, and Twitter.
One can find Continue reading
On Wednesday July 22st, we will host a webinar discussing latest features of the MFO Premium search tool site. Topics will focus on improvements made to the main MultiSearch tool, including: Continue reading
June begins the fourth month with yield on the 10-year US Treasury Note below 1%. Dating back to 1926, the yield has never been below 1%.
Since the Federal Reserve implemented its Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) in December 2008 to help combat the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), the yield has remained below 3% 113 of 138 months … or more than 80% of the time. The goal of 3% level seems to have become something of a new normal. It used to be more like 5%, the long-time average.
The last time the 10-year yielded below Continue reading
“All NAVs are opinions.” ― Richard Jacobs
While March was one of the most turbulent months on record for the S&P 500, with real-estate and oil sectors acutely affected, investors in fixed-income also experienced a rough ride. Funds reaching for yield were hardest hit, especially those employing leverage. There are plenty such funds, driven by a seemingly never-ending period of zero-interest-rate policy.
Warnings of the Continue reading
David asked each of MFO’s traditional contributors to share a few words about what we’ve been thinking as we watch events, both near and distant, personal and political, transpire.
I think …
I’m starting to Continue reading
In November 2014 we published a piece entitled, “Mediocracy and Frustration,” a lament of lame 3.9% annualized returns since the century began for the S&P 500. The historically low returns reflected two monster drawdowns blamed on the tech bubble of 2000 and the financial crisis of 2008 and 65 months of retractions 20% or more from peak.
As if that was not bad enough, every pundit was predicting eminent collapse, including two Nobel Prize winners. A beloved bull, it was a not.
They were wrong. All of them.
The bull lasted Continue reading
“Don’t trust everything you see. Even salt looks like sugar.” ― Anonymous
The MFO Premium site now has fund holdings; specifically, top-ten holdings for equities and fixed-income securities, countries, and main industry sectors … thanks to our expanded Lipper (now Refinitiv) Global Data Feed.
What’s more, all are searchable with the site’s main tool MultiSearch. Here’s a screenshot of the new holdings metrics on Continue reading
“Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.” ― Horace Greeley
My home state of California rates a close second to Pennsylvania.
On what scale?
Assets under management (AUM) by the fund companies.
At $6 trillion, it sports twice the AUM of New York.
While Pennsylvania is home to fund behemoth Vanguard, California is home to about Continue reading