Hurricane risk might seem like the obvious problem, but there is a more insidious driver in this financial train wreck. Finance professor Shahid Hamid, who directs the Laboratory for Insurance at Flor...
Tag: commentary
Opinion: How you can save $60k for a home down payment without risk or waiting forever
Yes, starting from zero and trying to save a bit each month will take a while. To put together that princely sum, you’d have to save $500 a month for around nine years in a high-interest savings accou...
Opinion: One of the most reliable stock market indicators — short-interest ratio — is near a record high, and that’s a bearish omen
Joe Raedle/Getty Images The bulls are grasping at straws when they celebrate the recent increase in short-selling volume. They mistakenly believe that short interest — the percentage of a company’s sh...
Opinion: Disney’s ESPN is aiming for a potential pact with DraftKings. The better bet for investors is FanDuel, which has a few aces in the hole
It can be maddening when other people don’t see the world the way we do. In the stock market, this kind of misalignment can be a source of great wealth. I was thinking about that kind of contrarian ap...
Weekend reads: How the Fed’s punishing policy can set you up for massive gains in the stock market
During a long bear market, investors’ moods can be so bleak and muddy that they cannot envision better times. But they always come. Warren Buffett has shown repeatedly over the decades how to enhance ...
Opinion: Could there be a stock market rally? Probably. Would it be the end of the bear market? Probably not.
The stock market’s low for the year on the last day in September is likely to be breached in this bear market, according to a contrarian analysis of market timer sentiment. That’s because at no point ...
Here’s how much retirement income you can buy today for $100,000
I come bearing good news for those who are recently retired, who are about to retire soon, and for anyone else who wants a secure income for the rest of their life. It’s not amazing news, so don’t bre...
Opinion: Inflation is going to fall just as fast as it rose, and that’s investors’ cue to enter the stock market
When central banks, most notably the Federal Reserve these days, move too aggressively on interest-rate increases, things break. Believe it or not, this is bullish in the twisted thinking of Wall Stre...
10 energy stocks that are analysts’ favorites as OPEC makes oil-production cuts
The OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries has agreed on a drastic cut to the global supply. The speculation has helped oil reverse its recent declines. And that means it’s time to take another look a...
Opinion: This week’s big rebound in stocks means the bear market is alive and well
Nhac Nguyen/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Caution: The stock market’s explosive rise in the past two days doesn’t necessarily mean the bear market is over. If anything, the rally suggests that the...
21 dividend stocks yielding 5% or more of companies that will produce plenty of cash in 2023
When the stock market has jumped two days in a row, as it has now, it is easy to become complacent. But the Federal Reserve isn’t finished raising interest rates, and recession talk abounds. Stock inv...
Opinion: Your off-ramp for I-bonds is coming up soon if you bought the securities for their juicy 9.6% yield
You can hold on to Series I bonds for 30 years, but if you jumped in when the interest rate skyrocketed to 9.62%, you might be looking for an off-ramp well before then. If you were attracted primarily...
Opinion: This 401(k) bill opens the door to risky assets
Senators Pat Toomey, Tim Scott and Peter Meijer have just proposed a bill in Congress that would allow 401(k) plans to stretch beyond traditional investments like stocks and bonds. And when we say “be...
This stock market strategist says the coming recession could be the biggest ever. ‘I recommend prayer.’
Keith McCullough, founder and CEO of Hedgeye Risk Management, isn’t one to mince words about financial markets, the Federal Reserve or the economy. Right now he has a few less-than-charitable things t...
Opinion: Micron earnings suggest the chip downturn could be worse than Wall Street expects
Micron Technology Inc. executives warned about a semiconductor downturn in late June, but now say that a “sharp and sudden” drop in demand exceeded even those expectations, suggesting the current chip...
Dividend yields on preferred stocks have soared. This is how to pick the best ones for your portfolio.
This year nearly every type of security has declined — bad news if you look at your portfolio’s value each day and have difficulty sleeping at night. On the other hand, it’s good news if you’re lookin...
Opinion: Market instability replaces inflation as the biggest risk, raising the chances of a pivot by the Federal Reserve
Market instability is the biggest risk to central banks globally, replacing inflation, owing to massive amounts of leverage. So far, the U.S. Federal Reserve is fortunate because there’s low volatilit...
How to Build a Bond Ladder for Income
While stock prices typically rise and fall from year to year, bond prices have historically been quite stable. Yet 2022 is shaping up to be a year of infamy for fixed income. Since bond prices move in...
Why TIPS might be a smart place to park some money right now
Inflation is running at 8% or higher, depending on how you count it (and who’s counting). The Federal Reserve is clearly panicking. And the markets are clearly panicking too. So at this point, Uncle S...
‘I would not have been able to do it without him’: I built a property portfolio with 23 units while we were dating. How much should I give to my fiancé in our prenup?
I’m about to marry a wonderful man. I built an investment portfolio of 23 units while we were dating. Now we’re questioning how to create a prenuptial agreement. Over the years, I have identified, pur...
Don’t panic about your 401(k)
I’ve been doing this—writing about the stock market and investments—for a quarter of a century. It’s been a heckuva turbulent ride, including Russian defaults, emerging market crises, dot-com disaster...
Why Standard Deviation Is the Wrong Way to Measure Risk in a Bear Market
Illustration by Alex Nabaum Text size About the author: Rick Lear is the founder and chief investment officer at Lear Investment Management. The idea of adding to or maintaining fixed-income exposure ...
Home values in August saw their largest monthly decline since 2011. Some cities see house prices drop by 3%.
Home values are edging down as buyers remain spooked by high mortgage rates, according to a new report. The typical value of a home in the U.S. fell 0.3% in August from the previous month, according t...
Thinking about a Roth conversion? If you have an IRA, consider this ‘bear market bonus’
If you’ve been thinking about converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, here’s the good news: This year’s market turmoil may be giving you a golden opportunity to do it. That’s because the stocks an...
‘She never explained anything’: I’m a senior citizen and I lost $100,000 in the stock market this year. Can I sue my financial adviser?
I am a senior citizen and have suffered major losses to the tune of $100,000 in the recent stock market turmoil. Can I sue my financial adviser? I understand the dynamics of the market as far as its u...
Rich millennials say this is the best long-term investment
Millionaire millennials haven’t been deterred by this year’s collapse in cryptocurrencies and “nonfungible tokens” and still see them as the No. 1 way to build long-term wealth, a new study finds. Tho...