I was sitting in the exam room and the doctor walked in. Knowing I write this blog, he said, “Finally someone I can talk to. What the heck is going on?” With our current economic situation, the market tanking and the Coronavirus monopolizing the amped up media, a lot of concerned subscribers are asking that question. When you combine financial […]
» Read moreEnergy stocks are not keeping up with the S&P 500. What’s going on? MarketWatch provides a 10-year chart for XLE, an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) specializing in the energy sector. Over ten years the price dropped from $57.52 to $54.16. Macrotrends shows us the S&P has almost tripled during that same time: What happened to the energy sector? With the […]
» Read moreIn a yield-starved investment world, should investors be buying Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT)? Can they bring solid, safe returns? Many investors love them, while some shy away. How volatile are they? How do you evaluate them? A subscriber recently asked a good question. He purchased a subscription from one of our trusted affiliates, The Dividend Hunter. He looked at […]
» Read moreMy instrument check ride was already scheduled when I got a call from Larry, my flight instructor. He told me to come out to the airport immediately, today would be one of the best learning experiences he could offer. It was a cloudy, soppy, rainy day; nothing going on, so I drove to the airport. Larry said today we would […]
» Read moreThe bond market is absolutely nuts – devoid of any common sense. Back in the days when professors used chalkboards, and actually taught classes, I studied Business Economics. We learned how capital and labor come together to produce goods and services, create jobs and profits. If capital was needed, you could borrow and pay interest. Interest is the rent you […]
» Read moreThere is a three-headed investment bandit lurking in the weeds looking to steal your wealth. Savvy investors must deal with them – all at the same time. First up is the safety bandit. If you invest in stocks and bonds, they can default or go down in value, robbing wealth from your nest egg. Second is the income bandit. Retirees […]
» Read moreNorthwestern University sits on the shores of Lake Michigan. It’s a beautiful campus, particularly when the leaves are turning golden. I left work and drove to night school to begin the fall semester. I thought to myself, ‘I want to be an accountant, why is a marketing course required?’ Marketing 101, here I come. Professor Howard was an executive in […]
» Read moreRealizing you are wrong about a basic belief is tough. The last two weeks we discussed “The Bond Fund Risks Your Broker Won’t Tell You” and “Closed-End Bond Funds, Friend or Foe?” We concluded holding top-rated bonds is OK – individually, not in a publicly traded fund. Fund managers, chasing high returns, take risks I’m not comfortable with. If bonds […]
» Read moreIn our article, “Is Your Money Manager Really Listening?”, subscriber Rick G. reported a bad experience when his money manager invested in a closed-end bond fund: “…. He put me in several Closed-End Bond Funds (CEFs). He said they were good deals as they were selling at a discount to Net Asset Value (NAV). Upon further research, these CEFs ALWAYS […]
» Read moreHistorically, funds holding investment-grade bonds have been considered a safe investment. Lending money to hundreds of well-known companies had little chance of major default and provided interest income. Has your broker mentioned new risks emerging? Bonds ratings fall into two major groups, investment grade and high yield (called junk bonds). The bond rating generally determines the interest rate borrowers have […]
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