Talk about the Fiduciary Rule continues. The issue is simple. When you seek investment advice make sure you work with someone that is held to this higher standard like Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. You can read more about the fiduciary rule in some of my previous posts: Is Your Wealth Manager Held to this Higher Standard? Who’s Looking Out for You? Wall Street’s Dirty Secret … [Read more...]
America is Open for Business
With Trump’s win, the lifeblood of this country, small businesses, are now open for business. Pay no attention to today's market. It's simply the hedge funds unwinding their losing bets. And that's exactly what they do with other people's money. They bet. Stay tuned. Meanwhile gold prices are soaring. Fortune reports: The price of gold surged nearly 4% to $1,316 an ounce on Tuesday night. That was the biggest jump for the yellow metal, which is often seen as one of the world’s safest assets, since the Brexit vote this past summer. The price of U.S. Treasury bonds are also rising, … [Read more...]
Election Investing: You Need to Be Like This
President Obama is credited with this bull market in stocks. But let’s not forget it took an “end of the world” like crash to set it up thanks to the real estate debacle. It’s unfortunate and it’s a disservice to investors that the media spends so much time on this election/market stuff. I’d bet the average investor completely missed this bull market because the media made them so panic stricken they sold at the bottom or near it and they never got back into the market. The most successful investors, the ones I’ve been taught by, like Dick Young, don’t flinch regardless of the market. I … [Read more...]
Rage Gauge November: Putting Lipstick on the Pig
The numbers aren’t pretty but that’s not stopping the government from smearing lipstick on this pig. Friday’s jobs report was lukewarm with the economy adding a fewer-than-expected 161,000 jobs in October. We’ll have to wait for the post-election adjustment. Unemployment inched lower as the burger flipper jobs increased. ZeroHedge notes that the number of multiple jobholders has hit a 21st century high as people scramble to maintain their standard of living against an unpromising jobs landscape. The Fed punted on rate increases, preferring to wait until December, reinforcing the idea that … [Read more...]
Annuity Salesmen Rise from the Dead
I’ve been slammed over the last few weeks talking with prospective clients. We are open for business is an understatement. One area that I continue to hear about from prospective clients is how they wish they didn’t buy that annuity. I’ve written to you before about these toxic products (for example here, here, here, here and here). The issue is that annuities are sold with a full-court press on those that don’t invest for a living. They’re promised rates of return that sound good on paper but will be wiped out if the insurer goes bankrupt and the government doesn’t bail it out. With … [Read more...]
Fidelity Investments: IRS Required Minimum Distribution
Worried about your required minimum distribution (RMD, aka minimum required distribution, MRD)? Don’t be. Fidelity’s got you covered. Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions regarding RMDs. General information What are minimum required distributions (MRDs)? Minimum required distributions, or MRDs, are mandatory, minimum yearly withdrawals that generally must be taken starting in the year you turn 70½. While there is a minimum amount you are required to withdraw in order to avoid severe penalties, you can always take more than the MRD amount. You generally have … [Read more...]
Tidal Wave of Junk Bond ETF Outflows
Inflation and uncertainty over future interest rate moves by the world's central banks are causing junk bond investors to flee for the exits. Over the last week a wave of money has exited the junk bond market. The chart above displays the outflows from junk bond ETFs HGY and JNK. After I wrote to you yesterday, investors pulled money out of of junk bond ETFs yet again. The Wall Street Journal's Chris Dieterich writes: The bond market’s October retreat fueled record withdrawals from some popular exchange-traded funds, the latest sign of investor anxiety over inflation. Investors pulled $998 … [Read more...]
These Two ETFs Were Hit Hard by Outflows on Friday
High yield ETFs focused on long-duration bonds are seeing a massive exodus by investors worried about rising rates. On Friday, BlackRock's iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) suffered a record outflow of $1 billion. That's in contrast with shorter duration funds that have even seen some inflows as investors readjust. On the same day, State Street's SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK) watched $182 million walk out the door. Financial Times reporters Joe Rennison and Eric Platt write of the phenomenon: “The recent pullback in the larger high-yield ETFs such as HYG … [Read more...]
Are Your Investment Accounts Safe From the Plague of Hackers?
It's the last day of Cyber Security awareness month, and hopefully you have spent some time considering the state of your current cyber-risks. Are your passwords strong enough? Are the systems you're using secure? Are the people you're working with competent enough to protect your data? Here, Fidelity gives investors a checklist of their own to focus on improving cyber security. Online security is a shared responsibility. We believe that having a close partnership with you helps keep you safe, which is why we encourage you to enhance our security measures by taking some actions on your … [Read more...]
Are Stop-Losses More Dangerous in Today’s Volatile Markets?
I have warned investors many times about the undependability and general riskiness of using stop-loss orders. When markets get volatile it's hard to beat the folks with the best technology. And even when you're competing on even ground, markets can simply become overwhelmed with stop-losses in a panic. Then your money is facing terrible odds. Dick and Matt Young and I made not using stop-losses our number one recommendation for 2016. This turned out to be good advice, especially if you were trading in currencies this year. Chelsey Dulaney writes at The Wall Street Journal. A report from the … [Read more...]
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