Continued economic strengthening, concerns that inflation might rise in the future and a large amount of government debt are among the factors translating into increases in interest rates, with more likely to come. Here are five questions that advisors – and their clients – might ask about rising interest rates: 1. Why are rates rising? […]
The love of houses, whether they be single family dwellings, townhouses, condominium apartments or anything in between, has been pretty strong in recent months. Interest rates are low, house prices have been rising and some people, still turned off by the market volatility of the past couple of years, are viewing a home purchase as […]
For financial advisors and their clients, the crucible test in the year ahead will be the extent to which financial markets provide decent portfolio returns. In order to do this, I feel it is important to take a broad view of the economy and financial markets and to discuss the conditions around which markets might […]
2009 will go down in my journal as the year the world didn’t end. Not that I expected it to but lots of people apparently did. I think those people who feared the end of the world, or at least the end of its financial system, were deeply distressed by the appreciable speed and depth […]
Not many people like volatility in financial markets. While unsteady equity or bond markets that are going up are easier to handle than inconstant markets that are going down, for most investors, day-to-day volatility is still something to be endured rather than embraced. Just as we’ve seen equity market volatility settle down recently (though it’s […]
Inflation can make the road to adequate retirement income a challenging one. Why? Because the traditional retirement portfolio, invested heavily if not exclusively in fixed income, is just that: fixed. The income it produces doesn’t necessarily go up each year to offset rising consumer prices – and rising prices gradually, but inescapably, eat away at […]
I do a lot of flying across Canada. Because of that, I am conscious of the fact that most of the time, the plane almost lands itself (and, if you happen to be in the right plane at the right airport, it completely lands itself). But sometimes, the pilot is required to take over and […]
These days, there’s lots of discussion about risks to the recovery. This is to be expected anytime the economy is moving toward the end of a recession and into a growth phase. However, more discussion is taking place this time around, simply because of this recession’s depth and the series of largely unexpected financial system […]
There is enough evidence that the majority of the world’s economies are moving toward recovery that much of the discussion is now focusing on when we will actually move into recovery mode and what shape it will take. We will be in an economic recovery when the economy in question is actually growing. A slower […]
Over the past several weeks, much has changed in the tone of the financial press, the economic indicators and the markets. Virtually all of the changes have been positive. The tone has changed from utter doom and gloom to something much more cheerful and, I might add, more balanced. Many economic indicators have become more […]