Inflation has been nearly nonexistent for years, which allowed the Federal Reserve to prolong its... Read More

Inflation has been nearly nonexistent for years, which allowed the Federal Reserve to prolong its historic monetary program. And even as the Fed has begun raising rates, officials are pointing to... Read More

Most sectors of the S&P 500 have been caught in the market sell-off lately, with all except utilities in the red for the year. The market rout has left one staple of American progress down 12% year to date. But it has been battered, along with its entire… Read More

Many investors think in binary terms, like the tendency to distinguish between value and growth investing. While value investors focus on companies with low valuations — whether based on the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price-to-book (P/B) ratio or something similar — growth investors focus on earnings growth, expecting share… Read More

Investors fled the mortgage REIT space ahead of higher short-term borrowing costs and the end of the Federal Reserve’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities. But a look at how one high-yield mortgage REIT performed over the past two cycles of higher rates may indicate the worst is over. Annaly… Read More

It’s been an ugly start to 2016. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest opening-day loss since 2008 after a weak manufacturing report from China triggered a big drop in Asian and European markets. A meager rebound Tuesday was followed by another steep sell-off Wednesday on a… Read More

Forecasting the price of oil has become the hot topic heading into 2016. There seems to be little consensus on direction, though. Just as many forecasts call for $20 oil as for $50 per barrel.  There have been record inflows into energy ETFs as investors try to time… Read More

Shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) surged nearly 140% in less than two years to an all-time high above... Read More

Shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) surged nearly 140% in less than two years to an all-time high above $134 in May. Since then, however, the world’s largest company by market capitalization has... Read More

One of the most important points in the curriculum for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)... Read More

One of the most important points in the curriculum for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is diversification across asset classes. More than stock picking or top-down economic... Read More

Income investors often use government bond yields as their benchmark. Securities issued by a stable government offer nearly guaranteed income since a government is unlikely to default on its debt. The problem is that government bonds offer so little income right now. U.S. 10-year Treasury notes yield about… Read More

As companies release their profit outlooks for 2016, some investors are getting worried about the... Read More

As companies release their profit outlooks for 2016, some investors are getting worried about the six-year bull market. One of the largest companies based in my hometown just released its outlook and... Read More