I’ve talked about the importance of following capital flows in the past. It’s not just watching where the money is flowing, but the interrelationships between investment classes that explains why shifts are occurring and gives clues about what to expect moving forward. This ever-changing nature of the markets is what I find so fascinating. For…
Investment Income
I’m excited to announce that I’ve put together some video-like presentations on my company’s website discussing how we’re helping some clients with income focused portfolios battle low interest rates. In my opinion, this is probably the smartest way to generate income today. It’s certainly the most flexible approach which comes in handy when markets get…
G’day Mate!
I’ve been looking more to the currencies as a bond alternative lately. Artificially low interest rates have skewed the market to where I don’t feel investors are being fairly compensated for a lot of the risks associated with bonds right now. Recently, I’ve had my eye on the Aussie dollar. The Australian dollar has benefited…
Thoughts of the Week
Ags The USDA releases their world supply and demand outlook today for all agricultural commodities. We generally see big price swings off this release. We’re also in the middle of planting season for most of the US. It’s interesting that my concerns of soil being too dry and not holding enough nutrients flipped to where…
The Driving Force Behind Stocks
I’ve had a few conversations recently with people about the stock market and its ability to continue this climb higher. A lot of people look at the economy and ask questions like “How is the stock market making all-time highs with unemployment as high as it is?” It can be pretty confusing at times and…
Deflation
This major sell-off in gold and cyclical stocks is the deflationary effect of Europe’s mismanagement of their debt crisis/bailouts. Regardless of what guarantees should be honored and who should pay for bailouts, when you confiscate assets and destroy all confidence in your banking system, everything freezes. People hoard what they have, money stops moving, and…
Know Thy Investment Professional
If the financial industry seems confusing, it’s because it’s made to be on purpose! It’s the combination of complex, structured products and endless amounts of legal regulations and disclosures that they know people never read. It’s so daunting it can make your head spin! I understand how complicated the financial industry is for everyone not…
Gold
I’ve been waiting for today’s flush in gold. When a market sets a point of support or resistance, it’s all but certain that it will break that to run stop orders sitting right on the other side of that level. I’ve also been expecting a major flush below $1,500/oz. given it’s such a nice, round…