In what will likely come as a shock to many investors, the price to earnings ratio of the companies in the Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks has been shown to be much higher than normally reported. Most publications that report the Russell 2000’s P/E ratio apparently fail to take into account the earnings of companies that are losing...
Housing prices in Denver, Houston, Miami, and the Washington, DC metropolitan area are officially considered overvalued. While that’s probably not news to the people who live in those areas, it’s yet more evidence that the housing market in the United States is reaching, if not already well into, bubble territory. Surprisingly, markets in San Francisco and New York City are...
Millions of Americans actively plan for retirement and arrange their finances with that end in mind. But as daunting as retirement and the loss of steady income can seem, for most people that won’t occur for decades. The more pressing reality, one which most Americans will face and which few are prepared for, is job loss. In many cases,...
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned recently that the bond market bubble is in danger of bursting sometime soon. The originator of the phrase “irrational exuberance” is once again pointing out the dangers of low-interest rates and the likelihood that when rates start rising they will rise rapidly. Greenspan’s Fed and Low-Interest Rates The irony of Greenspan’s most recent comments...
Four of the largest publicly-traded private equity funds recently reported their largest quarterly increase in total assets under management in four years. Much of that increase is due to insurance funds, pension funds, and others pouring money into private equity funds in a bid for better returns on investment. That doesn’t bode well for retirees hoping to benefit from...
The ongoing war of words between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump has been escalating in recent days, with North Korea threatening to attack Guam with nuclear weapons...
If you’re nearing retirement, or even just starting to plan for retirement, you’ve probably started putting together a list of all the things you need to do and all the things you need to avoid. Make the right investment choices, diversify your portfolio, save more money, come up with a budget. You think you’ve taken care of every possibility,...
The usual calm that pervades financial markets during August has been shattered in recent days. Investors have become increasingly nervous, stock markets have...
Too many people fail to save enough money. While savings rates in the United States increased during and immediately after the financial crisis, they have since fallen back towards historically low levels....
If you’ve been watching stock markets recently, you’ll know that the Dow Jones Industrial Average just recently topped 22,000 points for the first time. It’s a pretty amazing run that...