Reverse Mortgage Pros and Cons We’ve all seen the commercials about reverse mortgages but may still be unsure of they’re the right choice. A reverse mortgage is a home loan for qualified borrowers age 62 typically with substantial equity in their home. The money you receive can provide retirement income (and peace of mind) that [...]
Hedge with High Yield Bond Inverse ETFs It's no secret that the Fed's ZIRP has forced yield-starved investors to take on more risk. Consequently, several high yield bond (also known as 'junk bond') funds have become popular over the last few years to meet this need. High yield bond inverse ETFs should become equally as [...]
There are several warning signs flashing in financial markets. Here, we highlight some of the more egregious valuation metrics that many investors may not be aware of. Wall Street firms and the mainstream media have little interest in touting an extended, overbought stock market for investors. Warning signs are evident in the market's Price to [...]
If you’ve considered hedging your portfolio against rising rates, now might be a great time to start. The best time to hedge is when the thought of such an event seems so unlikely. That sentiment is certainly prevalent now with global interest rates at all-time lows and over $10 trillion of debt with negative yields. [...]
Using an Inverse Oil ETF There certainly has been no shortage of watching the oil markets over the last couple of years. From a high of $107.68 (West Texas Intermediate, light sweet futures) in June of 2014 oil had a stunning collapse down to $27.56 in January of 2016. That is a staggering loss of [...]
During times of financial crisis, having adequate cash on hand is very reassuring. But getting cash is becoming increasingly difficult as it seems that banks and regulators are doing everything in their power to stop cash payments. Former Harvard President Larry Summers wants to do away with our $100 bill while in Europe, Mario [...]
Raising cash by selling individual bonds, bond mutual funds or bond ETFs might be a prudent strategy if you expect interest rates to rise. Granted, this is a contrary opinion as few appear worried about the prospects of rising interest rates with over half a billion people currently living under negative Treasury rates. And global Central [...]
With the financial markets at precarious levels and risks coming from all over the world, here are our best alternative ETFs to reduce some risk in an investment portfolio. They will not eliminate risk but used in coordination with raising cash levels and inverse ETFs, can provide some downside protection against a severe bear market. [...]
Financial stocks have been very busy over past the few months. With U.S. interest rates plunging to near record low yields last week (1.57% on the U.S. 10 Year Treasury), financial stocks have been selling off hard. The theory being that low rates would hinder the bank’s profitability and their all-important net interest margins (basically, [...]
Deflation is a term that means different things depending on whom you ask. The Wikipedia definition says “deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services”.1 Robert Prechter defines deflation as “a contraction in the overall supply of money and credit”. In this theory, decreasing prices are simply the result of [...]
