A Tough Time For Fixed Income Investors: Time to Abandon Ship?
Core bond investors have experienced one of the worst starts to the year ever, potentially calling into question the validity of bonds in a portfolio. Despite the poor start, the value proposition for bonds has not changed much. Moreover, with yields on most fixed income markets moving sharply higher, [...]
Could Inflation Deflate Your Mid Life Career Pivot?
The Possibility of Higher Inflation Rates What’s up with inflation? Over the past several weeks, you have probably noticed widespread news coverage about the risks of rising prices in 2021 and ultimately higher inflation rates potentially for years ahead. The recent publicity about higher prices has been as sudden [...]
Mid Year Review: The Truth Is Stranger than Fiction
Having just passed the midpoint for the year 2020, I have been reflecting about these unusual times of the Coronavirus. My mind keeps returning to the often used quote “The truth is stranger than fiction”. This old saying, which some think was first written 200 years ago by Lord Byron [...]
Investing with Confidence for the Long Term
Experiencing a major pullback in stocks is never a comfortable feeling. In times like these, we believe it can be helpful to set aside the daily headlines and keep perspective of how stocks have historically performed over the long term. After all, the majority of market participants are long-term investors, [...]
A Tough Stretch for High Quality Bonds
It’s been a difficult stretch for fixed-income investors since yields bottomed in the summer of 2016. As shown on the following chart published on the LPL Financial Research Blog, the 2-year cumulative total return for the broad high-quality bond market (as represented by the Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate Index) is negative [...]
Rates on the Rise: Strategies for Fixed-Income Investors
A long period of low yields has been challenging for many fixed-income investors, but owning bond investments in a rising interest-rate environment could become even trickier. When interest rates go up, the prices of existing bonds typically fall. Consequently, the Federal Reserve's rate-setting decisions could affect the entire fixed-income market. [...]