Salient to Investors: Caroline Baum writes: The Fed buys risk-free Treasury securities, depressing yields, while the public is goaded into buying riskier assets, such as stocks and corporate bonds. Businesses financing with equity have more money to invest, while consumers feel wealthier and spend. quick paydayloan The Fed hopes money will
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Beth McHugh at Fidelity Investments said average balances in 401(k) accounts in the US rose 12 percent from a year earlier to a record high of $77,300 at year-end 2012 – 2/3 of the increase from market appreciation, the remainder from contributions. ICI says Americans held $3.5 trillion in 401(k) accounts as of Sept.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jordan Kotick at Barclays said New York oil’s 2-year mean is underpinning closing prices on the weekly chart at around $95.15 a barrel – buyers are emerging near the $95 level, signaling oil may test the $98.25 to $98.35 range, and may rise to $100 a barrel if buying
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bond investors are lowering their outlook for inflation in developing markets to a 9-month low. Alessandro Bee at Bank Sarasin sees moderate growth compared to recent years, which should keep inflation in check and create a really nice environment for local bond markets. Bank of America said investors see
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Richmond Fed researchers estimate that at the end of 2011, 57 percent of financial sector liabilities benefited from perceived government support, versus 45 percent over a decade ago. FRB of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said: The financial system was weakened further in 2007 and 2008 by an ambiguous rescue
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The MSCI World Index dividend yield of 2.7 percent compares with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Corporate Index bond yield of 2.6 percent and the Barclays Global High-Yield Index yield of 6.1 percent -the gap with the junk-bond index is the narrowest since at least 1995. Jacob de Tusch-Lec at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: FRB Governor Jeremy Stein sees a significant pattern of reaching-for-yield behavior emerging in corporate credit, which bodes ill for expected returns to junk bond and leveraged-loan investors. David Tawil at Maglan Capital said the bulls will continue to run despite the loud chorus that this is crazy because there’s nowhere else to put
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Kyung-Ah Park at Goldman Sachs said: Water utilities, infrastructure and water rights offer stable, long-term investment. Water supply is very inelastic, and 1 in 8 people lack access to safe water. Demand for water is growing twice as fast as the global population, and much of the developed world’s water infrastructure
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S&P 500 is at 15 times reported earnings versus a low of 13 in 2012 and the 6-decade average of 16.4. T. Doug Dale at Security Ballew Wealth Mgmt said we’re extremely overbought, but the market can continue higher. James McDonald at Northern Trust said a pause is understandable given the strong
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 4,500 private equity firms manage $3 trillion in assets. Preqin said as many as 708 firms face deadlines through 2015 to replenish their funds for future deals to avoid reduced fee income when the investment periods on older funds run out, typically after 5 years. Preqin said many venture capital
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