10 Jul 2015

Posted at 14:48h in The Friday Brief by
It was a stormy week for stocks and bonds as indexes were rocked by the uncertainty of Greece's fate, the near-$4 trillion rout of Chinese stocks, the hours-long halt on the NY Stock Exchange, grounded United Airlines planes, and tumbling oil industry shares. With stocks rising and falling 1% to 1.5% in a day, one might easily think that his portfolio was bouncing about in similar fashion.

13 Mar 2015

Posted at 12:26h in The Friday Brief by

At some point, the Federal Reserve will begin the measured process of raising interest rates. No one denies it. The unprecedented condition of near zero rates must be manipulated back to levels deemed 'normal' and soon as the economy continues to improve. Another undeniable fact is that as interest rates rise, bond prices will fall. So doesn't...

13 Sep 2002

Posted at 14:03h in The Friday Brief by
You know from your July and August statements just how badly the markets mistreated long-term investors.  A few statistics from Credit Suisse First Boston help put the period into even better perspective.  A record $29 billion was removed from mutual funds in July 2002.  Stock funds experienced record outflows, while bond funds enjoyed record inflows.  Net outflows from equity funds in July 2002 were almost twice as large as those during September 2001, and more than five times larger than those during August 1998.  Every style of equity funds was affected by investors’ withdrawals in July.