Salient to Investors: More health workers are choosing to stay at home. Save the Children estimates the world is more than 3 million health workers short, including at least 1 million community nurses and doctors. 34 percent of doctors and 21 percent of nurses are foreign in New Zealand versus 27 percent of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ethan Harris at Bank of America said Bernanke will fight until he sees a real economic improvement, and expects the Fed to continue buying bonds until the unemployment rate declines to 7 percent, and start outright purchases of U.S. government debt in 2013. Neal Soss at Credit Suisse Group says history enables
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S. E. C. cited the NYSE for compliance failures that allowed elite investors to receive stock data before the broader public – the first penalty it has levied against an exchange. The S.E.C. also penalized the Direct Edge exchange, is pursuing the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and investigating Nasdaq over the Facebook
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Build America Bonds are set to beat Treasuries and tax-exempt municipal debt for a third straight year – they offer an attractive yield to international buyers who don’t benefit from munis’ tax exemption. Justin Hoogendoorn at BMO Capital Markets said the bonds are hard to find. Concern that European leaders may
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Students prepared to pay a premium to live with their peers in city-center locations are a bonanza for providers of student accommodation, fueling acquisitions in an industry where yields are higher than other parts of the British property market. Philip Hillman at Jones Lang LaSalle reports big financial institutions
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Japan is to scrap atomic power by the end of the 2030s but will allow idled reactors to restart during the 27-year wind-down period. Before Fukushima, Japan got almost 30 percent of its electricity from atomic power. Richard Katz at the Oriental Economist Report said the plan is a desperate election gambit
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jeffrey Gundlach at DoubleLine Capital said: Equities won’t repeat the poor performance of 2000 to 2010, when the S&P 500 fell 14 percent. Equities are superior to fixed-income as an inflation hedge. Stocks’ unpopularity is positive. The S&P 500 isn’t cheap – the Chinese stock market is better value. Mutual-fund investors withdrew $313 billion from U.S.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Junk-bonds are outperforming the highest speculative-grade tier by the most since February, and yield the lowest ever. EPFR reports inflows into junk-bond funds globally at $52.4 billion for 2012 through Aug. 29, versus $8.3 billion in 2011 and $31.5 billion in 2010, and despite slowing earnings growth for speculative-grade companies accelerating credit-ratings cuts.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Companies in the euro-region periphery are issuing bonds at the fastest pace since March 2011, tapping record-low yields on optimism from Germany’s ratification of the euro-area bailout fund and by bond-buying programs from the ECB and the Fed. European corporate bond yields are 2.54 percent, down from 4.4 percent at the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S&P GSCI spot gauge of 24 raw materials is on a seven week advance – the best streak since October 2010. Sijin Cheng at Barclays said sentiment is quickly shifting to a ‘risk-on’ mode. Jonathan Barratt of Barratt’s Bulletin said Middle East geopolitical concerns should add a $5 to
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