The Dollar: Reserve Currency Forever?
By Gary Aiken | August 10, 2023 The United States Dollar is the world’s reserve currency, true or false? Partly true. The Dollar is one of many reserve currencies. Reserve currencies are units of money held by central banks around the world to facilitate trade and ensure the relative stability of their own country’s currency. […]
Are We There Yet?
By Gary Aiken | April 4, 2023 Quarterly data showed earnings declining, economic growth slowing, and inflation cooling in alignment with the Federal Reserve’s policy goals. Stock and bond markets fluctuated within a range during Q1 as market participants grappled with competing data showing the potential for avoiding a recession colliding with bank failures. Global […]
Don’t Call It A Pivot
By Gary Aiken | January 6, 2023 Inflation started to show signs of moderating. The Federal Reserve continued raising rates, but signaled a slowdown for the pace of future hikes. The bear market rally that started in October continued well into the late fourth quarter. Stocks and bonds both showed strong returns amid declining volatility. […]
Patience Not Pessimism
By Gary Aiken | October 6, 2022 Inflation is proving more stubborn than anticipated, with the Fed getting increasingly hawkish and markets becoming more skeptical of a “soft landing.” A steady decline in asset values so far this year (i.e., a collapse in growth stocks and a correction in bond prices) has created attractive valuations […]
Nothing New Under the Sun
By Mitch York | July 6, 2022 Inflation has hit a 40-year high. We expect “demand destruction” to cause a significant decline in inflation by year-end, but remain elevated above normal levels. Once behind the curve, the Fed is front-loading large interest rate hikes in order to cool the economy and fight inflation. Stocks are […]
Goodbye and Good Riddance
By Mitch York | April 6, 2022 After a brief flight to quality following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. interest rates jumped to three-year highs as inflation fears prevailed. The Federal Reserve approved its first interest rate hike in more than three years and indicated many more to come. Stocks declined sharply during the first […]
Enduring a choppy stock market
Don’t be a greedy chicken There’s no doubt that big drops in equity indexes make headlines. They are often phrased to be sensational: “Biggest weekly decline in 2 years”, or “worst day since May,” or “Stocks fall for a third straight session.” Declines in stock indexes happen because of concerns, worries, and fears over one […]
Growth Through Innovation – Part 2
Old Dogs, New Tricks: A Deeper Look at Disruptive Innovation. A few months back, we wrote a piece about today’s age of “disruptive innovation,” which is in the process of reshaping many parts of the global economy. We called it a Fourth Industrial Revolution and outlined how emerging technologies may create new models for success […]
Foreign Investing
International Equity: An Important Portfolio Component During the first half of the year, one of the key themes we have been covering in our monthly market commentary is the “re-opening trade.” As the economy re-opened after months of lockdown, value stocks tended to perform better than growth. At the same time, U.S. markets outperformed overseas […]
Tax-Loss Harvesting
More Investors Should Have Access To “Tax Alpha” Sell low. It’s the opposite of conventional wisdom that tells us to always “buy low, sell high.” But for some investors, selling low — even at a loss — can be a powerful tool to generate what investment professionals call “tax alpha.” Done strategically, selling a portfolio’s […]