Will You Lose Money When the Interest Rate Goes Up?
The investor community is fretting over interest rates. Inflation is creeping up and the US Federal Reserve is likely to keep raising rates. When rates creep up, the stock market heads down. And if you hold long term bonds they will continue to pay the current low rate even as new bonds pay more. That means you will either sell them at a loss or hold them with their low yield until maturity. Depending on the positioning of your investment portfolio, will you lose money when interest rates to up?
Short versus Long Term Bonds
We recently wrote about tax free municipal […]
Are There Too Many High Tech Stocks in the S&P 500?
Last year we asked if you were an active or passive investor. As the stock market approaches or perhaps has reached a turning point is there a problem with passive investing in index funds that track the S&P 500?
As the stock market rally grows older the time will come when the high tech and large cap stocks that are leading will have problems. Then passive investors who simply put money in a fund that tracks the S&P 500 will be in trouble.
Solid fundamental analysis will tell today’s investor to diversify his or her portfolio and look for investments like consumer […]
How to Protect Your Retirement Savings before the US Economy Implodes Again
Far too many investors were essentially wiped out in the 2008 economic collapse. Those who got back into the stock market and invested well have ridden a historic bull market to impressive gains. The real estate market has also largely recovered and benefitted those who bought when prices were at a rock bottom. But, no bull market lasts forever. We saw a little bit of that prophecy come true in the last couple of weeks as stocks corrected impressively. In this article we are not so much concerned with how far the market will rise again or how quickly it […]
Are Tax Free Municipal Bonds a Good Idea?
For years a tried and true investment was a tax free municipal bond. If you were in a high tax bracket you could write off your federal taxes and sometimes even your state and local taxes on the interest gained. With a carefully chosen bond you could get a better return than with a US Treasury. And in an era when the top tax rate was 89% it made perfect sense to go the tax free municipal bond route. Now there is talk of fixing America’s ailing infrastructure using seed money from the federal government and bonds issued by state […]
Three Ways to Protect Your Investments in a Bear Market
Stock markets across the globe plunged at the beginning of the week . They recovered somewhat and then resumed their slide today. More and more analysts are saying that a bear market is on the doorstep. CNBC warns of a big bear market.
The dramatic stock market sell-off earlier this week should be viewed as a turning point, according to analysts.
“Our ongoing concerns about the recovery’s tenure have been thrown into sharper focus by the steepest market sell-off since the credit crunch,” Eoin Murray, head of investment at Hermes Investment Management, said in a research note published Thursday.
On Monday, the Dow […]
End of Bitcoin or an Opportunity to Buy?
Is this the long-predicted end of bitcoin or an opportunity to buy before the price skyrockets again? A couple of weeks ago we asked will bitcoin survive the crackdown. Governmental regulation has always been a background threat to cryptocurrencies as the feeding frenzy continues and we asked what should bitcoin be worth. Now, it would appear that investors are taking seriously the risk of governmental intervention and regulation. Reuters reports that the cryptocurrency selloff intensifies as bitcoin and others fall.
The currencies have come off their lows but analysts said the sell-off was probably not over.
This week’s slump brought the total […]
What Are the Smartest Investments for 2018?
As the year begins we all try to see the future and then invest accordingly. What are the smartest investments for 2018? Will the FANG tech darlings that have led the rally continue to lead? Should you be considering safe investment options in anticipation of a big market correction? Should you be looking for investments that are helped by the tax code overhaul? Long term investors always look for fundamentals and value. Forbes published its list of Top U.S. Stocks for 2018 and their explanations. Their picks from first to fifth are these.
United Health Group
Fedex
Viper Energy
T-Mobile
Microsoft
United Health Group
United Health Group […]
Should You Be Concerned about the Inverted Yield Curve?
As the bull market has ranged higher and higher, the bears have repeated predicted its demise. And they have been wrong again and again. Nevertheless, all bull markets do finally end or at least experience a substantial correction. What are the signs you should look for as tip offs that the economy and stocks are about the experience a setback? In an article about slowing cash flow in the corporate world Bloomberg notes that investors should be concerned about the inverted yield curve.
Concerns over a flattening U.S. Treasury yield curve – a sign to some of a coming economic slowdown […]
Will Bitcoin Survive the Crackdown?
Most of our concern about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has been the fact that they have no intrinsic value to fall back on when the bubble pops. Now another factor has been added to the bitcoin equation. Regulators in China and South Korea are talking about shutting down cryptocurrency exchanges. That news threw bitcoin and others into a tailspin as investors pulled their assets from the world of cryptocurrencies. Nations like China are trying to keep wealthy investors from moving assets offshore. Unfortunately for the governments, investors can use bitcoin to move millions without government oversight, taxes or regulations. As […]
Invest in Gene Editing Companies
The world of medicine is about to change. Diseases that had no treatment and conditions that cause lifelong suffering may well be cured at the source. Biotechnology has advanced to the point where the human genome can be edited and fixed! Companies that are on the leading edge of this new technology will not only change the world of medicine and your life. They can be profitable as well. Three gene editing companies in particular are worth your attention as noted in an article in the Motley Fool.
If you’re looking to invest in stocks positioned to benefit from a literally […]