Chart of the Month – Mar 2022
Are you feeling the pain at the pump? What is driving oil prices higher?
A Look Under the Hood of a Bond Fund | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
A lot of investors may be wondering how rising interest rates might be impacting their investments, so today, we're going to talk about bond funds -- how they operate, some of the details, and see how they're responding to this environment.
New Year – Rates are Rising | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
Welcome to 2022 where the news seem to focus, again, on rising rates –for COVID infections due to Omicron, inflation, and interest rates. The markets seem to be most concerned about interest rates. This week Kent Kramer looks at why that might be the case and what may be in store for interest rates in 2022.
Inflation Aware Investing
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
You know the old saying, “What goes up must come down.” Currently everything seems to be going up at the same time.
November 22, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
In this week's Edition of Financial Perspectives, Kent Kramer chats with Mary Ellen Stanek, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Baird Asset Management. Baird specializes in risk-controlled fixed income management.
November 8, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
You know the old saying, “What goes up must come down.” How is it that currently everything seems to be going up at the same time? Signs of inflation like oil prices, labor prices, trade deficits. And yet markets are going up with stocks at all-time highs. Bond prices are rising this week when often, bond prices move inversely to stock prices. Government spending is certainly going up, consumer spending is going up and tax rates seem to be poised to rise as well. What do all these upwards mean for investors?
Barbell Portfolios Can Be Hard To Hold On To
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
Barbells work great at the gym because they put weight on a bar in such a way that it’s balanced, leaving room in the middle for someone to use it to workout. We often see portfolios that are designed like a barbell at the gym: lots of risk in one account and lots of cash or very short-term securities in another. In aggregate, it might produce some balance, but the reality is that it can create some real challenges.
October 11, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Friction can slow can down any machine. What was humming along only minutes or weeks ago, can labor under the strain of too little oil, a little sand in the gears, you name it. The US economy and markets have been seeing an increase in perceived frictions over the past month. Can we get back to smoother operations?
June 7, 2021 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Alternative Investments
It’s summertime and we have two summer’s worth of movies to look forward to after 2020’s reduced calendar. AMC, a company that runs movie theaters has seen their stock value go way up in the past few weeks. Is this about great movies or something else?
This week Kent Kramer talks about two different valuation theories: Firm Foundation Theory and Castle-in-the-air Theory.
What This Year Reminds Us About Fixed Income
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
This year has reminded us of the many important roles that fixed income can play in portfolios.
August 11, 2020 Financial Perspectives
1:09 - News: July 27th - August 7th
4:06 - Market News: July 27th - August 7th
4:42 - Are Things Getting Better or Worse?
5:28 - What's Going on with Gold?
10:05 - How Does Foster Group View Gold?
May 22, 2020 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
0:51 - Recap of the News this Week
2:40 - Market Results for the Week
3:42 - What Do Low Interest Rates Mean for Investors?
6:40 - Fixed Income Analysis
7:45 - Corporate Bond Default Rates
8:21 - Corporate Bonds vs Treasuries
2:40 - Market Results for the Week
3:42 - What Do Low Interest Rates Mean for Investors?
6:40 - Fixed Income Analysis
7:45 - Corporate Bond Default Rates
8:21 - Corporate Bonds vs Treasuries
March 20, 2020 Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Fixed Income / Bonds
In this Foster Group update, Chief Investment Officer, Kent Kramer discusses current circumstances in the bond market.