Salient to Investors: Chris Bouffard at the Mutual Fund Store said the market is in a normal digestion process as people get comfortable with how quickly and how far we have come. Investors pulled almost $1.20 billion from US equity ETFs versus inflows of $32 billion in July, the most since
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Japan’s national debt is larger than the economies of Germany, France and the UK combined, more than twice the size of the economy, and its fiscal deficit will expand to 10.3 percent of GDP in 2013. Moody’s Investors Service warned that a worsening of finances would erode confidence in government bonds. Thomas
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Credit Suisse cut reduced its allocation to stocks to neutral from overweight. Michael Strobaek at Credit Suisse said the fundamental environment remains attractive, but the markets are overbought, and the positive economic outlook and further supportive monetary policy are largely priced in, limiting upside in the near-term. Strobaek said the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S&P 500 is at 15.3 projected earnings, the highest in 3 years. 72 percent of the 449 S&P 500 companies so far reporting have beaten earnings estimates, 56 percent have beaten sales estimates. Rick Fier at Conifer Securities said earnings are pretty much done and tapering is on the way
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jim Rogers writes: Every major central bank printing money and the world is floating on a very large artificial lake. You cannot have an efficient and strong economy with artificial money printing. The next economic slowdown will be worse than 2008-2009. Read the full article at http://jimrogers-blog.blogspot.com/2013/08/every-major-central-bank-is-printing.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Adam Johnson writes: The drumbeat against China’s ability to grow has been relentless despite more economic data over the past month beating forecasts than has fallen short. China’s retail sales so far in 2013 have risen by almost 13 percent, meeting economist forecasts. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF has fallen
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Caroline Baum writes: Health-care spending has collapsed in most developed nations, not just the US. But as more people get health insurance, the demand for medical care will go up, and with it the price. If Fed talk of tapering was enough to send 10-yr Treasury yields
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Morningstar said investors pulled $14.5 billion from Pimco’s US mutual funds in June, $18.7 billion from Pimco’s Total Return fund since May. Bill Gross at Pimco said bond managers need to adapt to an era of lower fixed-income returns by being flexible and embracing unconstrained strategies, alternative
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Cass R. Sunstein at Harvard writes: Comparative research on intergenerational mobility raises legitimate questions about the claim that the US stands out as a land of opportunity. A 2006 study found that in intergenerational mobility, the US lagged behind Nordic nations as well as the UK. For example, Danish men born
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Kim Shepherd at the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service said institutional investors’ allocations to dollar-denominated bonds in Q2 were 26.2 percent of assets, the lowest level since 2007, and versus 32 percent of assets in Q4 2011. David Darst at Morgan Stanley is advising clients to cut bond allocations to
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