There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. There are other changes to the portfolio though so please read on. As I write this the stock market is in the process of taking a dive (well if 1.4% is a "dive") and [...]
There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. There are no changes to the portfolio this month. Growth and inflation expectations rose somewhat since last month's update. The change is minor though and within the range of what we've seen in recent [...]
There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. There are no changes to the portfolio this month. The growth and inflation outlook continued to weaken somewhat since last month's update. Certainly nothing very dramatic though, just a general, gentle trend of weaker [...]
In February 2000, the FOMC quietly switched from the CPI to the PCE Deflator as its standard for inflation measurement. There were various technical reasons for doing so, including the CPI’s employment of a geometric mean basis (which was in 2015 finally altered to a Constant Elasticity of Substitution formula). But it was one phrase that in hindsight did the [...]
There is no change to the risk budget this month. For the moderate risk investor, the allocation between risk assets and bonds is unchanged at 50/50. The performance of markets in the first quarter of the year was a bit schizophrenic. Stocks performed well which one might interpret as a reflection of improving economic growth prospects. Certainly President Trump and [...]
Market based expectations for growth and inflation have moderated slightly since the last update. Since mid-December, interest rates - nominal and real - have fallen back, the yield curve has flattened, the dollar index has pulled back from its highs and gold has moved off its lows. In short, the Trump trade is being partially reversed as it dawns on investors [...]
Markets have moved sharply over the last month, mostly in the post-election period. Stocks are up - small caps exuberantly so - the dollar is up, bonds and gold are down. Surprisingly though, our indicators did not move all that much. The direction of change in the indicators is consistent with the moves in assets but not the magnitude. The [...]
As with last month, I delayed this update a few days to see if we might gain some clarity that would warrant some change in our allocation. Alas, no such clarity has emerged and so, as it has been since August, the risk budget remains unchanged this month. Indeed, as last month, the entire portfolio is unchanged. For the moderate [...]
I've put off this update as long as I can now, waiting for some clarity, a change in our indicators that might suggest a change to the portfolio. Alas, despite a Fed meeting, a BOJ meeting and a plethora of economic data nothing has moved sufficiently to warrant a change. The risk budget is unchanged this month as is the [...]
I haven't posted on sector momentum since just after the Brexit vote because there hasn't been much change. The most obvious change is that all sectors are now positive on a three month basis. Defensive sectors have retreated a bit and more cyclical sectors have advance a bit. The result is a market that is only slightly improved since the [...]
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