By Bob Stokes
1/20/2012 4:45:00 PM
Investors believe municipal bonds are safe, but the evidence suggests that a change for the worse is underway. That evidence includes...
Filed Under: financial forecast, municipal bonds, mutual funds, pension funds
Category: U.S. Economy
By Jason Farkas
6/21/2011 2:15:00 PM
Sovereign debt is making the headlines these days, and here is a new way to look at the different risk levels of bonds -- the Debt Parabola, a.k.a. Debt Man's Curve.
Filed Under: emerging markets, eurozone, Greek debt, municipal bonds, pension funds, Robert Prechter, Sovereign Debt, subprime lending, Treasury bills (T-bills), U.S. Treasuries
Category: U.S. Economy
By Bob Stokes
5/25/2011 9:45:00 AM
The investment officers who oversee those funds clearly are not afraid of risky investments. They've jumped into them with both feet...All is well when most financial markets are rising. But what if...
Filed Under: cash, diversification, market forecasts, mutual funds, pension funds, sentiment, stock indexes
Category: Stocks
By Nico Isaac
4/8/2011 4:30:00 PM
The public's commitment to US equities is starting to resemble a country western song. Investors have chosen to "stand by their stocks," come what may in global politics and finance, including one of the most politically unstable climates in recent history, as civil protests and military conflict spreads across the Middle East and North Africa. But like the lyrics says: Been down so low, there's only one place left to go -- up.
Filed Under: bull market, buy and hold, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), eurozone, housing prices, inflation, investor psychology, pension funds, sentiment, U.S. dollar, Wall Street
Category: Stocks
By Bob Stokes
2/3/2011 4:45:00 PM
Before the financial debacle began in 2007, who could imagine that Congress would have to decide whether to spare states from bankruptcy? Almost no one. But please note -- the key word is "almost"...
Filed Under: bailouts, conquer the crash, economic depression, municipal bonds, pension funds
Category: U.S. Economy
By Nico Isaac
1/24/2011 4:45:00 PM
As the cross-country municipal budget crisis grows more dire with each passing month, the solutions to generating revenue are growing even more drastic. Fact: One New York politician recently proposed legalizing the banned sport of steel cage Ultimate Fighting. The logic being: Everyday people are gonna pay good money to see the snot get knocked out of others while they themselves suffer daily financial beat-downs.
Filed Under: conquer the crash, credit crisis, municipal bonds, pension funds, Robert Prechter
Category: U.S. Economy
By Jill Noble
1/21/2011 5:45:00 PM
Our most encyclopedic resource -- Pete Kendall and Robert Prechter's The Mania Chronicles -- offers a real-time account of the last financial mania and its aftermath.
Filed Under: bailouts, Elliott Wave Principle, mania, pension funds, Robert Prechter, social mood, socionomics
Category: Cultural Trends
By Bob Stokes
1/12/2011 8:15:00 PM
It happened during a time in our history when real estate values had soared, and states were spending like there was no tomorrow. But tomorrow came. Could states default again?...
Filed Under: bailouts, credit rating, economic depression, pension funds
Category: U.S. Economy
By Bob Stokes
12/7/2010 3:30:00 PM
What could be as bad as the sub-prime mortgage meltdown? After all, that crisis supposedly triggered what nearly became a global financial Armageddon in 2007-2008. Well, here's one "as bad as" candidate recently in the news...
Filed Under: bailouts, credit crisis, deficit, pension funds
Category: U.S. Economy
By Bob Stokes
11/29/2010 5:00:00 PM
Millions of people count on their (or their spouse's) pension. Yet even though the stock market has trended mostly upward in 2010, the number of pension plans failures is higher than in 2009...
Filed Under: conquer the crash, economic depression, pension funds, personal finance
Category: U.S. Economy
By Bob Stokes
9/22/2010 11:30:00 AM
"Many of America's largest pension funds are sticking to expectations of fat returns on their investments even after a decade of paltry gains, which could leave U.S. retirement plans facing an even deeper funding hole and taxpayers on the hook for huge additional contributions"...
Filed Under: pension funds, Elliott Wave Principle
Category: U.S. Economy
By Bob Stokes
5/24/2010 3:15:00 PM
Imagine what $2 billion would buy. How many college tuitions would that pay for? How many gas tanks would that fill? Not to mention things like clothes and groceries. Well, between 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, May 20, two thousand million dollars vanished from one state pension fund.
Filed Under: pension funds, mutual funds, bailouts, Robert Prechter
Category: Stocks
By Jeff Reckseit
11/2/2009 4:15:00 PM
Large banks and more recently pension funds have suddenly become infatuated with gold. They chant the mantras that gold bugs have known for years: gold is a store of value; owning gold is financial insurance; an ounce of gold will always buy a good suit. The idea is that if the economy continues to weaken and share prices decline, a strategic allocation of the precious metal will hedge and offset some of the losses in the financial sector.
Filed Under: pension funds, gold futures, crude oil, grain futures
Category: Gold and Silver