By Liz Ann Sonders - Senior Vice-President and Chief Investment Strategist at Charles Schwab Today, housing represents a record low of US gross domestic product at about 2 per cent compared with more than 6 per cent at its 2005 peak. But the psychological impact of housing on individuals, the stock market and the broader …
Continue reading Time for Policymakers to Get Real on US Housing
By Laszlo Birinyi The S&P 500 has been perilously close to a 20 per cent decline in recent weeks which would, by definition, terminate the bull market which began in March 2009. Given the economic circumstances and the continuing political turmoil on both sides of the Atlantic, most commentators believe it is only a matter …
Continue reading Reasons to Be Bullish, But With a Lower Case ‘b’
From the Financial Times and Scott Minerd When Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, emerges from his meetings with the Federal Open Market Committee, he addresses the media in that most Delphic of dialects – “Fedspeak.” Like any good central banker, he is careful to preach the piety of price stability. Even if he …
Continue reading QE3 on its Way As Fed Prepares Phillips Trial
By Gil Weinreich, AdvisorOne October 24, 2011 After years of housing market decline that has weakened the economy and depressed consumer sentiment, a number of analyses are strongly suggesting that a turnaround in the beaten sector may finally be at hand. Indeed, the market seems to be adding its endorsement to these analyses, with the …
The bond market indicator that has predicted every U.S. recession since 1970 shows that the economy has about a 60 percent chance of contracting within 12 months. The so-called Treasury yield curve, adjusted for distortions caused by the Federal Reserve’s record low zero to 0.25 percent target interest rate for overnight loans between banks, shows …
It's the question every Boomer needs to answer. Rich or poor. Whether you'll need Social Security to make ends meet or whether you intend to use it to fund an investment program for yourself or, say, your grandkids' education. Or anything else in between. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is complicated. The accumulation phase …
Continue reading “When Should I File for Social Security Benefits?”
By Glenn Ruffenach When it comes to retirement planning, women need to “out-plan” men. That’s the lesson at the heart of a new report from the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the Scripps Gerontology Center at Miami University. The study asserts that women – given the unique financial risks they face during their working years …
Continue reading Women Live Longer, But Aren’t Planning Longer
US car sales rose strongly in September, with gloom over economic prospects offset by consumers’ need to replace old vehicles, easier credit conditions and an improved supply of Japanese vehicles. According to preliminary data, light-vehicle sales climbed to slightly more than 13m units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, from 12.1m in August and 11.8m …
I tried to promise that I would be loss gloomy going forward but it’s turning out to be a difficult task. One positive thing we have going for us is the investment platform that I started using for virtually all clients in the past couple of months. While market crashes are always traumatic, if you …
Continue reading Expect Nasdaq’s erratic rally to end in tears
Here is your Weekly Insights update from Curian’s Asset Management Group. This informative capital market update is designed to help those who want to manage your own money stay informed about important developments in economics and the markets… CONTINUE READING …
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