Post Archive by Month

After the slide of the past couple of weeks, the markets were in dire need of regaining some footing. They managed to accomplish that feat yesterday, as the major averages spent most of the session stuck in a sideways pattern. In the end, nothing much was gained or lost, which in itself was not a bad thing as some stability …

Yesterday was one of those days in the market place where, on a global basis, everyone was worried about what everybody else was doing—or not doing. Case in point is a few headlines that I picked up on MarketWatch during the day: “Dollar adds to gains after Ireland denies aid”“Crude slides 3% on dollar, China worries”“LatAm stocks slide on China, …

A nice rally, after last week’s set back, pushed the Dow up almost 90 points yesterday in the early going. Around mid-day, upward momentum just about disappeared caused by weakness in the technology sector along with a selloff in bonds, which pushed interest rates higher. Actually, the 10-year Treasury note is now yielding above 2.9% for the first time since …

In case you missed it, hat tip goes to Mish at Global Economic Trends for posting this video explaining in layman’s terms what Quantitative Easing is all about. No comment necessary: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k?fs=1]

Yesterday, I talked about how to deal with the potential of rising interest rates. What if you need to continue generating income in the face of higher rates? Losing more in principal than receiving in dividends is hardly the way to come out ahead. MarketWatch offered some alternatives in “Bond funds that shield you from interest rate risk:” The smart …

Reader Ken emailed the following question that has repeatedly come up from time to time: I am wondering if you could foresee what the wisest investments should be for upcoming increasing in interest rates? It is obvious these low rates cannot go much lower or last much longer so there must be some place for the forward thinking investor to …