What’s going on with the stock market right now? We started the year with the worst market performance in history.  In February, volatility continued to reach multi-year highs.  As if that weren’t bad enough, the media reported in March that second quarter earnings were expected to be broadly lower. Things were shaping up to be…
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A cornerstone of Modern Portfolio Theory is the concept that you can reduce the risk (variation) of an investment portfolio by adding securities whose performance does not correlate with those in the portfolio. This led to the identification of asset classes – groupings of securities that perform similarly under certain economic conditions – and ultimately…
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Ever since the crisis of 2008 the Fed had been utilizing what’s been called “quantitative easing” to focus on commercial banks to stimulate the economy. This approach involved purchasing a significant volume of bonds to drive up bond prices and reduce interest rates, with the expectation that the lower rates would stimulate demand for more…
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In the past two months we’ve experienced one of the most volatile starts to a new investment year in history. Surely there must be a good reason why this is occurring.  Is it a harbinger of a severe economic downturn?  Recognition that stocks have been overvalued for years?  A response to the fact that Donald…
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As stock prices continue to fall across the globe, you will inevitably be hearing the term “bear market” bandied about in the media. While the definition is vague, as is its etymology, broadly speaking the term signifies a general decline in the stock market over a period of time, coupled with a transition from high…
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Now that the capital markets have once again begun exhibiting a level of volatility not seen for a number of years, it’s appropriate to revisit the relationship between risk and return. Wesley Gray, CEO of Alpha Architect, a Pennsylvania investment advisory firm, has come up with an interesting thought experiment that brings this relationship into…
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