From the category archives:

Investing

A Bubble In Search of a Pin

February 6, 2010

Here is a Letter from John Mauldin. As usual, a thoughtful piece that focuses on the headwinds the economy faces. I agree with John, and those he quotes, in many respects about how Greenspan, Bernanke, and the powers that be missed the bubble. However, we are naive to think that the Fed would ever prick [...]

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ProShares Adds New Leveraged ETFs

January 25, 2010

ProShares launched two new Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that short U.S. Treasuries. The ProShares Ultra 20+ Year Treasury (NYSEArca: UBT) is obviously based on the twenty year Treasury while the ProShares Ultra 7-10 Year Treasury (NYSEArca: UST) focuses on intermediate Treasuries. Both funds are structured to provide double the movement of the underlying index on a [...]

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Tracking 2010 Predictions

December 18, 2009

Richard Bernstein, who use to be the Chief Investment Officer at Merrill Lynch before starting his own firm, has released his 2010 predictions. I am making note of it so we can revisit at the end of the upcoming year. Richard, who use to work with David Rosenberg before he left for Gluskin Shiff in [...]

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Structured Product Article

November 17, 2009

I am featured in an article on a new structured product from Deutsche Bank. The product is based on their commodity index. The product offers 150% to the upside so it is a leveraged product. They are trying to get folks who think commodities are going to continue their upward movement. The matures in three [...]

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Market Outlook at Index Universe

June 25, 2009

Interesting read over at Index Universe from John Serrapere. It is a pretty honest assessment of the markets, but it isn’t the most hopeful. However, I agree with his line of thinking. As I have stated previously, too many people are using analysis and projections from the previous three recessions to base their projections for [...]

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What Does the Increase In Mortgage Rates Mean

June 10, 2009

As the 10 year Treasury climbs, mortgage rates ride their back. Thirty year mortgage rates have jumped from the lows of around 4.75% to 5.57% this week. This may not seem like a large jump, and historically, current rates are still fantastic. But, the jump is having an impact on the housing market and bank [...]

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Leveraged EFTs Opportunity Or Danger

April 26, 2009

I am a strong advocate in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). They are the lowest cost, most tax efficient vehicle on the market today. However, you need to really understand the ETF you use. Not all of them are good.
One case is the leveraged ETFs. These vehicles are set up to provide double or even triple [...]

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To Option or Not to Option

March 29, 2009

The website, Index Universe, recently profiled Picket Fence Financial and described how we use Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) and options on those vehicles in client portfolios. Here is a link to the article:
http://www.indexuniverse.com/sections/features/5501-to-option-or-not-to-option-with-etfs.html

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