The New York Post – Small-time investors are flooding the market as bigwigs pull out Small investors are piling into stocks at a frantic pace — the event that allows veteran Wall Streeters to call a top of the market. These individual, or retail, customers invested a net of more than $1.8 billion in US equity funds… Continue reading Retail vs. Institutional Investors
Barron’s – Man vs. Machine: How Has Indexing Changed the Market? The active/passive debate has obscured a major concern: Will increased indexing impact the market. How is this boom in index products affecting the stock market? The question is especially pertinent these days, as benchmarks such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the… Continue reading The Rise Of Passive Investing
The Wall Street Journal – John O. McGinnis and Kyle W. Roche: Why Bitcoin Is Booming It’s become a trusted alternative when fiat money’s value is corrupted by politics. Who says only the government can make money? This year the value of the private currency bitcoin has climbed to unprecedented levels, while at the same time becoming far… Continue reading Understanding Bitcoin’s Boom & Ethereum’s Bigger Boom
The Financial Times – The great Bund yield bounce — Does it continue? The benchmark German 10-year yield has broken fresh ground in 2017, climbing to an 18-month high of 0.58 percent. With European Central Bank president Mario Draghi recently noting that stimulus is not forever, Bund investors have borne the brunt. German 10-year yields are… Continue reading Bund Yields Hit 18-Month Highs
The Financial Times – Volatility flickers back to life in financial markets Long period of calm in stock and bond trading shows signs of ending Volatility has flickered back in financial markets this month thanks to fears over tighter monetary policy and long-simmering concerns on stock market valuations, with analysts raising the possibility of a more… Continue reading The Return Of Volatility
Financial Sense – State Pension Crisis Leading to High-Tax Exodus Many public pension plans are dragging down their respective state and local governments, and the root of the problem is legislative inflexibility and demographic shifts, stated Chicago resident Jim Bianco, head of Bianco Research. This time on FS Insider, we spoke with Bianco about the massive public pension… Continue reading Budget Problems In Illinois
The Wall Street Journal – Weak Inflation Raises Questions About Traditional Model Linking Output and Prices Central banks aiming to reduce stimulus face quandary as global economic growth picks up steam Leading central banks plan to withdraw some of the stimulus measures they have put in place since the financial crisis. But their timing seems a… Continue reading Withdrawing Stimulus Amid Weak Inflation
The Financial Times – Smart beta funds stalked by chaotic ‘factor zoo’ Smart beta mutual funds, a halfway house between active and passive management, have recorded blockbuster growth in recent years, as investors hunt for market-beating returns at cheaper fees. The funds, which take a standard strategy that tracks an index but tweak it to… Continue reading Researchers Warn On Smart Beta
CNBC – GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. dollar, stocks fall while Treasury yields rise Benchmark Treasury yields touched nearly eight-week highs on the prospect of hawkish global central bank policy and as rising oil prices suggested inflationary pressures. Treasury yields helped push Wall Street stocks lower in a holiday week ahead of the second-quarter earnings reporting season. Comment The… Continue reading What to Expect if the Treasury Curve Steepens
Bloomberg – Bond Rout Sounds Warning for Equities That Higher Rates Can Hurt Gundlach sees 3% looming for Treasuries; Dalio says party over The global equity rally that’s repeatedly shrugged off rising geopolitical uncertainty now faces a new test: the apparent certainty of higher borrowing costs. The spike in bond yields is just getting started,… Continue reading Bond Rout?! Not Yet, But Higher Yields Will Sting Equities
Bloomberg Business – Gundlach Says Bond Wipeout Just Beginning as Bulls Rush for Exit Speculators that went bullish the long end getting flushed out Hedge funds that built up bullish long-end Treasury wagers to the highest outright level since 2008 are rushing for the exit as a government bond rout that started in Europe following a… Continue reading Is Bond Sentiment Turning?