"It's my worst nightmare," says a long-only bond fund manager. "There's nothing I can do - the checks come in every day, and I have to invest (the money)." Aging baby boomers following conventional wisdom by steering their accounts away from stocks and to fixed income at these low rates could get a very expensive lesson, writes Jonathan Trugman. (see also) [View news story]
Yes,this is tough scenario to manage in for sure, so long-only, long duration bonds are not the play right now. This is going to be a rude awakening for investors, if and when rates start rising. Once rates start up, everyone will be rushing for the door at the same time, leaving long duration bond funds. The exodus will feed on itself and I doubt that the Fed has enough capacity to prevent it from happening. The new breed of financial planner does not want to take the blame for losing market value when they have been putting their clients into long bond funds (not to mention losing fees as AUM declines!) Don't forget, timing is everything!
No one wants to buy or hold bonds when they think rates are going to rise, a classic "liquidity trap" problem, but Bernanke has done his best to allay rate fears by saying rates will stay low for an "extended" period. Aside from an unlikely Japan-scenario in the U.S., we know that rates have to rise someday if for no other reason than to bail out the insurance industry that is on precarious footing with all of the long term liabilities on their books that can't be supported by the low level of rates in the U.S. as well as retirees trying to live on bank CDs (are you kidding!!) In these cases, the sooner rates rise the better. Just not too quickly, or that will shock the economy back into another crisis. High yield bonds, investment grade bonds, medium term bonds, and high dividend stocks are best plays in this market, as the market activity has shown by its actions.
I'll Take The High Dividend; You Take The Low Volatility - Which ETF Road To Take? Part 1 [View article]
Yes, that would be good info. From the S&P Indices site, SPLV would have had only a 3.5% Financials weighting as of July 2008 compared to the S&P 500 weighting of 15.11%. That should have translated into better relative performance compared to the S&P 500. Unfortunately, since that is only a backtesting result and a full set of statistics is not available to measure, it is hard to calculate and say with certainty how much better SPLV would have performed during 2008. The only thing we have at this early stage in SPLV's short life is the past 18 months.
Buy Verizon For Fundamental Strength [View article]
It feels like Vz has been performing in a "counter-cyclical" manner this year. Good economic news has been bad for Vz. I didn't do the math to support this, though. I will be more careful making comments like this without the data to back it up. Sorry.
Buy Verizon For Fundamental Strength [View article]
Best guess is that VZ pull back is due to risk-on trades, sell VZ buy growth equity. VZ is considered stable play and in the face of more QE will underperform other higher growth equity in Tech, cyclicals, and EM.
Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Dividend Growth Strategies! [View instapost]
Yes, you are right, in general industrials are cyclical and high beta. Some of the best dividend payers, though, are less volatile and lower beta industrials like Waste Management, Lockheed Martin, and Watsco. Stay away from high beta industrials.
I haven't spent much time on HDIV. I checked the filter methodology and it looks reasonable, too, if not more troublesome to rationalize. For example, not sure if price momentum should or should not be a filter? And not sure how they use it. DVY filter feels more intuitive.
This is the first time I read you and liked your logical approach. I thought you were going to get into the risk-adjusted return aspect, since high dividend stocks most likely will underperform small cap or emerging markets on a total return basis over the long term. I don't think most people would trade a higher total return for a dividend-payer if they knew the total return would be lower. But on a risk-adjusted basis, we would make that trade every day!
Major Asset Classes Performance Update: Dec 31, 2011 [View article]
Hard to think that bonds can outperform equities over the near to medium term given the low rate environment where bonds are starting out. Mathematically, a 2 or 3% return is all you can expect if rates stay relatively flat. Any increase in rates, which we all should expect after 2013, will obviously lower the return.
Stocks, on the other hand, have no mathematical limiter so therefore at least have a chance to beat 2% returns; whether by expanded multiples, increased earnings, or other traditional reasons for increased stock returns.
Dividend Stock ETF, Asset Allocation Portfolios For The Coming Decade [View article]
I think DVY performed worse during the Crisis since it held the most "liquid" stocks and those were the stocks that were sold to fund liquidity needs to fund outflows, margin calls, etc.
On another note, I'm not a big fan of efficient frontier modeling in today's environment unless someone can convince me that they have a good basis for "expected" returns over the next 10+ years. Historical returns have NO bearing going forward from today's levels. Stochastic modeling is a better approach.
The "accounting" loss to the banks should already be in their financial statements. I haven't checked, but I am assuming any holders of Greek debt have already taken writedowns into income reflecting the mark-to-market of the Greek bonds at 50%. The problem for the holders of the Greek debt is that they won't be able to recover any of that loss, unlike in "normal" bankruptcies.
A Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Meg Whitman Assumes The Helm At Hewlett-Packard [View article]
Great summary and insight! HPQ is the new definition of why NOT to "buy-and-hold". It is amazing to me how a blue chip company can fall so far, so fast. Yet, it happens all the time! Recover or not, that seems to be the lesson here.
I have a position put on in 1998 that is now under water. Rode it way up and way down. I don't expect to sell it in next 72 hours. Maybe take tax losses later in the year?
Treasuries Update: 10-Year Yield At Record Low [View article]
This Treasury "bubble" is different.
It is being created and controlled by the Fed and federal govt and we can't fight it. We all know the Fed is limiting supply of Treasuries through QEx thus keeping rates artificially low. Another factor that is less apparent is the role regulators and the federal government is doing to force large financial institutions to hold US Treasuries as a "risk free" asset under the pretense of capital adequacy and financial management (e.g., Dodd-Frank treasury collateral posting). This is another flavor of QE and is how the govt has cornered the market in Treasuries to manipulate price.
This is broadly defined by the idea of "financial repression" (check out Rogoff/Reinhart to learn more on this). This will keep rates low until we move into a new paradigm (i.e., the economy grows out of this current state without increasing the amount of repression).
The challenge, of course, is how to translate this economic reality into a profitable investment strategy.
p.s. this is a re-posted comment from another article, but is worth showing in relation to the data above.
Income Investors Face Enormous Macro Risks Ahead [View article]
This Treasury "bubble" is different. It is being created and controlled by the Fed and federal govt and we can't fight it. We all know the Fed is limiting supply of Treasuries through QEx thus keeping rates artificially low. Another factor that is less apparent is the role regulators and the federal government is doing to force large financial institutions to hold US Treasuries as a "risk free" asset under the pretense of capital adequacy and financial management (ala Dodd-Frank treasury collateral posting). This is another flavor of QE and is how the govt has cornered the market in Treasuries to manipulate price.
This is broadly defined by the idea of "financial repression" (check out Rogoff/Reinhart to learn more on this). This will keep rates low until we move into a new paradigm (i.e., the economy grows out of this current state without increasing the amount of repression).
The challenge, of course, is how to translate this economic reality into a profitable investment strategy.
The risk-on trade is getting more problematic. We talk a lot about "catching a falling knife" and it sure feels that way now. The biggest risk right now is that the U.S. economy degrades to a "Japan Scenario", something that most of us thought was unlikely a year or two ago. The more you think about it, though, the more it seems possible (likely?). Certainly, this mirrors the Bill Gross "new normal" theory and matches up well with emerging demographics and no good fiscal/monetary tools left to jump start the economy from where we are today. Five years from now we may be saying 30-yr Treasuries yielding 3.5% were a great buy!
Taking Care Of Grandma's Money [View article]
"It's my worst nightmare," says a long-only bond fund manager. "There's nothing I can do - the checks come in every day, and I have to invest (the money)." Aging baby boomers following conventional wisdom by steering their accounts away from stocks and to fixed income at these low rates could get a very expensive lesson, writes Jonathan Trugman. (see also) [View news story]
No one wants to buy or hold bonds when they think rates are going to rise, a classic "liquidity trap" problem, but Bernanke has done his best to allay rate fears by saying rates will stay low for an "extended" period. Aside from an unlikely Japan-scenario in the U.S., we know that rates have to rise someday if for no other reason than to bail out the insurance industry that is on precarious footing with all of the long term liabilities on their books that can't be supported by the low level of rates in the U.S. as well as retirees trying to live on bank CDs (are you kidding!!) In these cases, the sooner rates rise the better. Just not too quickly, or that will shock the economy back into another crisis. High yield bonds, investment grade bonds, medium term bonds, and high dividend stocks are best plays in this market, as the market activity has shown by its actions.
I'll Take The High Dividend; You Take The Low Volatility - Which ETF Road To Take? Part 1 [View article]
Buy Verizon For Fundamental Strength [View article]
Buy Verizon For Fundamental Strength [View article]
Top 10 Reasons Why I Love Dividend Growth Strategies! [View instapost]
I haven't spent much time on HDIV. I checked the filter methodology and it looks reasonable, too, if not more troublesome to rationalize. For example, not sure if price momentum should or should not be a filter? And not sure how they use it. DVY filter feels more intuitive.
Why Dividend Growth Investors View Stocks Differently [View article]
Major Asset Classes Performance Update: Dec 31, 2011 [View article]
Stocks, on the other hand, have no mathematical limiter so therefore at least have a chance to beat 2% returns; whether by expanded multiples, increased earnings, or other traditional reasons for increased stock returns.
Dividend Stock ETF, Asset Allocation Portfolios For The Coming Decade [View article]
On another note, I'm not a big fan of efficient frontier modeling in today's environment unless someone can convince me that they have a good basis for "expected" returns over the next 10+ years. Historical returns have NO bearing going forward from today's levels. Stochastic modeling is a better approach.
The Devil Is In The Double Entry [View article]
A Light At The End Of The Tunnel: Meg Whitman Assumes The Helm At Hewlett-Packard [View article]
I have a position put on in 1998 that is now under water. Rode it way up and way down. I don't expect to sell it in next 72 hours. Maybe take tax losses later in the year?
The Bond Bubble That Wasn't [View article]
Treasuries Update: 10-Year Yield At Record Low [View article]
It is being created and controlled by the Fed and federal govt and we can't fight it. We all know the Fed is limiting supply of Treasuries through QEx thus keeping rates artificially low. Another factor that is less apparent is the role regulators and the federal government is doing to force large financial institutions to hold US Treasuries as a "risk free" asset under the pretense of capital adequacy and financial management (e.g., Dodd-Frank treasury collateral posting). This is another flavor of QE and is how the govt has cornered the market in Treasuries to manipulate price.
This is broadly defined by the idea of "financial repression" (check out Rogoff/Reinhart to learn more on this). This will keep rates low until we move into a new paradigm (i.e., the economy grows out of this current state without increasing the amount of repression).
The challenge, of course, is how to translate this economic reality into a profitable investment strategy.
p.s. this is a re-posted comment from another article, but is worth showing in relation to the data above.
Income Investors Face Enormous Macro Risks Ahead [View article]
This is broadly defined by the idea of "financial repression" (check out Rogoff/Reinhart to learn more on this). This will keep rates low until we move into a new paradigm (i.e., the economy grows out of this current state without increasing the amount of repression).
The challenge, of course, is how to translate this economic reality into a profitable investment strategy.
Brace Yourself for a Bumpy Ride [View article]