April 2022: The Strategic Petroleum Reserve
This week we want to discuss the recent decision by the Biden administration to release approximately 180 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – why are they doing this, what will be the impact and the potential risks involved. So what is the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)? The SPR is the […]
December 2021: Company Insiders
We monitor many different data points to determine the vulnerability of equity markets. One of those items is the buying or selling done by insiders – people that have information on companies beyond what is given to the public. Insiders can be company executives, founders or private investors (i.e.…venture capital or private equity). This week […]
October 2021: Government Shutdowns & The Debt Ceiling
The last several weeks, there has been a lot of chatter over the looming potential government shutdown and debt ceiling resolution. We thought we would spend this week reviewing each separately and their potential effects on investment markets. We will focus more on understanding the situation, rather than a minute-by-minute update. Â Government Shutdown The […]
September 2021: When Should You Take Capital Gains?
This week we wanted to discuss a question that almost every investor has faced, or will face, in their lifetime – “I have a lot of capital gains in investment XYZ, should I sell?” We’re not talking about whether investment XYZ is a good investment, or if now is the “right time” to sell, we’re […]
June 2021: The Federal Reserve and Energy Sector
This week volatility came back after nearly a month of very calm markets. The VIX (the volatility index) jumped from 15 to nearly 21. Most of this was driven by two key factors. First, the Federal Reserve met this week and released a statement that spooked investors. Second, today is a quadruple witching day in […]
May 2021: Inflation Update
This week the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) calculation for April. Many looked at the headline inflation number of 4.16% and panicked. Stocks and bonds sold off in the first three days of the week as investors assumed that the feared inflation surge had finally arrived. This week we’ll […]
March 2021: Private Credit
In our February 19th note we discussed the current unfavorable risk/reward in High Yield Bonds. This week, however, we are going to talk about the private credit markets. First, it’s important to understand some of the basics of a corporate capital structure so that you can see how these different types of debt fit into […]
February 2021: High Yield Bonds
Normally at this point in the economic cycle, investment managers would be transitioning fixed income portfolios to more risky investments in junk bonds. This week we would like to highlight why we haven’t done that and discuss the current risk reward in the junk bond market also known as High Yield Bonds. For bonds that […]
January 2021: Understanding Inflation
With the recent Democratic sweep of Congress, fears of inflation have elevated in financial markets. Every day on the financial news, someone is arguing that we will soon be faced with runaway inflation due to reckless fiscal and monetary policies. This rhetoric has led to a rise in intermediate and long-term interest rates. We’ve shared […]
December 2020: Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ) & 1031 Exchanges
This week we wanted to discuss a topic that has been on the mind of some of our clients. Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) and 1031 Exchanges. Quite simply, these two vehicles are methods of deferring, reducing, or eliminating capital gains that would otherwise have to be paid. These vehicles should be considered when there is […]