Imagine the following hypothetical situation... Tomorrow, you're going to fall into a coma that will last five years. You're allowed to invest in one, and only one, investment for the duration of your coma. Which investment would you pick? Some might select a Dividend Aristocrat such as McDonald's (MCD)... and turn on dividend reinvestment, of course. Others would desire better diversification and go with the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY). More conservative investors might want the safety of a 5-year Treasury bond, since they'll know exactly how much money they'll wind up with once they arise from their comas. However, none of these investments benefit from asset class diversification. For an all-in-one investment solution, we'll need to take a more strategic approach... Read more »
The search for yield isn't getting any easier. And that won't change as long as global economies continue to demonstrate anemic growth. The United States is growing at about 2% - and that's the fastest of the developed nations. Indeed, Europe is in worse shape, and interest rates there are being forced lower by the EU banking authorities. Granted, interest rates in the United States will eventually rise, but not until mid to late 2015. Even then, we're not going to see a massive increase. This leaves yield-hungry investors in a jam... When rates tick up, you can expect them to top out at 3.5% or 4% on the 10-year Treasury bond. And that's still nowhere close to what investors need from fixed income to make ends meet. Here's an easy way to close the gap... Read more »
Though she hasn't "officially" announced it yet, Hillary Clinton plans to run for president in 2016. In fact, the former Secretary of State has begun to distance herself from Barack Obama, a dead giveaway that her sights are set on the Oval Office. The problem for Hillary is that Obama's approval rating is in the gutter. Recent Gallup polls show that only about 40% of the country approves of the job that the president is doing - and that hasn't escaped Clinton's watchful eye. Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, even went as far as saying that "if the president had 60% approval ratings, [Hillary] would be hitching her wagon to him. At 40%, he's an anchor." Thus, the Hillary campaign will emphasize repeatedly that it isn't pushing a "de facto third Obama term," even if all of the former First Lady's actions indicate that her tenure would, indeed, bring four more years of Obama policy. Read more »
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