Trends – Negative Real Interest Rates
I’m sure many of you have recently read about the risk of bonds or that bonds are the next bubble. Should we consider bonds a safe place to invest, to earn income or to diversify the risk present in today’s world? The current environment is definitely challenging. The Fed, in its attempt to charge the .. read more
Tactical Portfolio Update – Quarterly Performance Q1
The following is a presentation of current asset allocation and performance for Alhambra Investment Partners Tactical Strategies as of 3/31/2012. The performance presentation represents the gross of fees, time-weighted return versus each portfolio’s designated benchmark. The performance represents the underlying modeled strategy of client accounts at Folio Institutional. Global Opportunities .. read more
Tactical Update
This week, one particular article sparked an intense internal dialogue about some of the global economic realities that have us concerned. The article is from Peking University’s Professor Michael Pettis. Prof. Pettis opines that Chinese citizens would rather save than spend and that Japan, who has recently run a current account deficit, would prefer to .. read more
Tactical Update
The investment team made the decision to take advantage of recent market strength and take our risk/return perspective from extremely favorable back close to neutral. The decision is the result of economic factors we have pegged as worthy of concern and further monitoring, a potential peak in short term investor sentiment and the uncertainty surrounding .. read more
Trend Watcher – The Dollar, Chile, and Floating-Rate Bonds
Welcome to 2012. While the S&P 500 was essentially flat last year, our clients enjoyed their third year of out-performance, which judging by the results of many of our peers, is saying a lot. We will shortly have our final numbers available to registered users only, so click here to register. Of the markets I .. read more
Trend Watcher – Relative Performance Review
The 200-day moving average has acted as significant resistance in recent weeks, so until bulls can push the index above this level, it’s not worth the risk to deploy additional funds. In the two weeks that have passed, the market has not been able to overtake the 200- day MA, and we have since fallen .. read more
Weekly Chart Review – Katastrophe!
Using a German word, katastrophe, seems fitting at this time. Despite improving economic data points and earnings in the U.S., we are still at the mercy of the European debt crisis. Last week, I admit, I became enthusiastic by looking at market breadth indicators. The S&P 500 had its worst week in two months this week with .. read more
Durable Goods and Home Sales Reports were Bullish Today
By John L. Chapman, Ph.D. Washington, D.C. Two of the monthly “high frequency data” reports upon which many institutional investor decisions are made were released today: the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau released both the (1) monthly “Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders“, commonly known as the durable goods report; and, jointly .. read more
