Bonds
How will rising interest rates affect your investments?
Interest Rates and Bond Prices Markets are highly complex and interest rates do not always affect investments the way pundits speculate they will. However, with bond prices, the effect of interest rate changes is in fact both direct and mathematically calculable.To get a bond’s current yield, divide the interest it pays by its current price.…
Read MoreStock market highs: Six things to consider now
December 2013 The U.S. stock market has recently reached all-time highs. Through the Q&As we write for various publications, we hear from a fair amount of people who either do not have an advisor, or their current advisor is not very good. Many seem to think that because we are in uncharted territory, drastic…
Read MoreAre you ready for the next financial crisis?
September 2013 This month marks the 5th anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis and the panic selling that gripped the world in the wake of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. The dangerous phrase, “This time is different,” was uttered continuously suggesting that the markets would dive further and stay down for years. Since the…
Read MoreInterest rates up, bonds down, now what?
June 2013 For the last few years, we have heard numerous predictions of large losses for bonds, particularly if interest rates were to rise. In May, the yield on a 10-year U.S. Treasury Bond rose from 1.67% to 2.16%. If the headlines were to be believed, one would think owning bonds meant suffering catastrophic losses…
Read MoreMunicipal bond default risk way overblown
March 2011 With debt levels of many governments around the world at high levels and several states and municipalities also struggling to contain their borrowing, the venerable 60 Minutes thought a discussion about fiscal stresses might make for notable TV. They were right. They brought a guest named Meredith Whitney on the December 19th broadcast…
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