If you caught the news last week about OPEC’s announcement that they plan to cut oil production in a bid to bolster crude prices, you might be thinking about rushing in to invest. Be sure to do your homework however, since OPEC isn’t necessarily driving
Category Archives: Economics & Fundamentals
In this week’s Globe and Mail piece, Larry gets political with a critique of central bank and Canadian government policies. If the US election is any indication, the will of the people to break the cycle of endless deficit spending and unsustainable government policies is
When trying to diversify (lower volatility) your portfolio, your best friend is to have assets with lower correlation. You have probably heard that you should ignore currency considerations because in the long run it all balances out. While the chart below shows that is true,
Rolling back the clock a few years to the Bernanke taper tantrum in 2013 and the Fed’s forecast for interest rate hikes; it is clear that they suffer from an increasing loss of credibility. The academic establishment is slowly coming around to the fact that
The last few months witnessed the lowest period of volatility in decades for the S&P 500. Until Friday, we hadn’t seen so much as a 1% (daily) change in over 2 months. Bollinger Bands are a technical indicator that measure market volatility. Here’s how they
As markets continue to flirt with all-time-highs, corporate earnings fade, and valuation multiples approach levels not seen since Alan Greenspan called the market “irrationally exuberant” in 1996. Of course that was then, and this is now. In this week’s Globe and Mail piece we take
In this week’s Globe and Mail article, Larry discusses the dichotomy between the recent low volatility we’ve seen in markets and the very high risk that we’re facing as markets make new highs. Many don’t seem to really understand that risk is a four-letter-word until
The divergence in monetary policy between the U.S. and Europe, Japan, and Canada suggests that the U.S. dollar should strengthen notably over the next year. The developed market trade weighted U.S. dollar index’s most important currency pair is the euro and Canada is only 9.1
Janet Yellen will spin her Fedspeak on Aug. 26 at the annual Jackson Hole conference. Investors worldwide will scour the text for hints at what the future holds. In the past, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC, a.k.a. Federal Open Mouth Committee) bosses have used the
What does Shiller PE (Price-to-Earnings) Ratio Tells us About Current Market Valuation? As all 3 major US markets enter uncharted territory, should you be thrilled and sitting pretty, or concerned and thinking about protecting what you’ve gained? One can’t make money in markets by being a