WEALTHTRACK

If you were to follow legendary investor Sir John Templeton’s advice to buy where there is maximum pessimism it might lead you to energy stocks. The energy sector has lagged the S&P 500 since 2016 and has been one of the worst if not the worst-performing industry sectors over the last year. The fossil fuel industry has been hit with an almost perfect storm of headwinds and instability among ma...

The economy and markets are facing multiple headwinds. But the cumulative real growth of the economy, that’s excluding inflation, is far below other post World War II recoveries. That growth is now being challenged on several fronts - enough to derail the U.S. economy and the record-breaking bull market in large-cap stocks? In a slow-growth world, growth commands a premium. Large-cap growth stocks...

Medicare is a benefit that can’t start soon enough for many older adults. Health care costs are skyrocketing and they hit seniors particularly hard because many are on a fixed income and they utilize health care more. But Medicare is not a slam dunk, anything but.  It is a very complex, confusing multipart program that requires work to understand. And its benefits can vary widely depending up...

Two investment tenets have been upended in recent years: one that value stocks, considered cheap by traditional metrics outperform growth stocks, the other that small companies outperform large ones. Over the last decade, the opposite has been true. Growth stocks have dramatically outdistanced value stocks and large caps have significantly outperformed small company ones. If you happen to be a val...

Financial risks are adding up.  Trade battles with China, the surprising vulnerability of Middle East oil supplies, the duration of Hong Kong protests, the drawn-out Brexit dilemma are all drags on business confidence and economic growth. In recognition, the Federal Reserve just cut interest rates for the second time this summer and remains on alert. Another largely unrecognized concern? In A...

One dominant market observation of the last decade has been that we have been experiencing the least believed bull market in history. As of August of 2018 the market’s advance, in large-cap stocks at least, had indeed become the longest bull market in history. But the experience of investors has been anything but a straight shot. If you look at indexes outside the largest U.S. company stocks it ha...

Volatile U.S trade relations with China are immediately reflected in the financial markets but what about the economic impact? Could they push the U.S. into recession? Leading global economist and strategist Nick Sargen weighs in. SARGEN: "Number one is don't add to risk. That's the simple message. Number two is, is it a good time to d begin to do some reduction of risk in the portfolio? And I thi...

 China expert  Jim McGregor  gives us his candid assessment of the competitive threat that China’s leadership poses to the U.S.  It’s a fascinating conversation and a wakeup call for the U.S. It’s currently summer pledge season on Public Television, so  WEALTHTRACK  might not be airing on your local channel. Consequently, we are revisiting some recent interviews with...

Additional discussion about how Social Security rules are changing.  As benefits guru, Mary Beth Franklin told us on a recent WEALTHTRACK , there are nearly 3,000 rules governing this benefit and there are specific advantages for different situations. This week we look at three: Divorce, Retiring Single, and Medicare. WEALTHTRACK #1607 published on August, 16. 2019. https://wealthtrack.com/re...

Paying attention to Social Security benefits pays off and needs to be taken seriously from an earlier age than most people realize.  Many of us underestimate how important this benefit is.  - It is the single largest source of income for the majority of Americans age 65 and older.  - It accounts for half or more of total income for 53% of married couples and 74% of unmarried individ...

Who is carrying on the traditions of today’s great investors? When you are investing in a fund with an impressive track record and distinctive philosophy and approach is there any guarantee that those qualities will continue with the next generation?   We recently launched a new series on “Next Generation Investors” on WEALTHTRACK to introduce the younger portfolio managers sharing management...

 We have launched a new series on WEALTHTRACK, Next Generation Investors, to introduce ourselves and you to the younger portfolio managers working alongside today’s investment greats.  As part of that series, we are doing one on one podcasts with the less well known, but deserving partners.  Our guest this week is Samantha McLemore, Portfolio Manager at Miller Value Partners who has...

Influential investment advisor and author Bill Bernstein shares key insights with Morningstar’s “The Long View” podcast which they are sharing with us on WEALTHTRACK this week. Listen here: https://wealthtrack.com/if-youve-won-the-game-stop-playing/ During this summer public television fundraising week we are revisiting a recent program about the greatest retirement fear – running out of money. Ad...

Seismic shifts in the municipal bond markets and the portfolios of award-winning muni manager Robert DiMella.     The nearly $4 trillion dollar municipal bond market is attracting record amounts of investor money. Year-to-date more than $40 billion has poured into municipal bond funds, one of the highest inflows on record. One key factor for muni’s attractiveness is the higher...

Consuelo Mack WEALTHTRACK launches a new season with its “Next Generation Investors” series featuring an exclusive interview with legendary value investor Bill Miller, and Samantha McLemore, his Co-Portfolio Manager on the Miller Opportunity Trust fund.   We want you to meet the individuals that some top fund managers have chosen to manage money with them, for them and possibly succeed them....

Better financial advice for women with Yie-Hsin Hung, one of the most powerful women in finance.  The economic might of women is large and growing. According to research put together by New York Life Investment Management, 51% of the personal wealth in the U.S. is controlled by women - an estimated $22 trillion worth.  That number is expected to jump by 30% percent to nearly $29 trillion...

Berkshire Hathaway stock has underperformed the S&P 500 for the past decade. By a recent calculation Berkshire’s stock has risen by nearly 260% versus the market’s more than 300% advance in the decade ended in 2018.   Despite Berkshire’s stunning record since 1965, 21% compounded annualized gains, this is not the first time that the company’s shares have underperformed the market for a de...

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint” describes the investment time horizon of Tweedy, Browne’s senior portfolio managers William Browne and John Spears.   Wall Street is haunted by the ghosts of brokerage firms past. Names such as Dean Witter, Kidder Peabody, PaineWebber, and Smith Barney were thriving independents. No more! Even the Merrill Lynch name is being gradually erased by parent comp...

As it’s currently fundraising season on public television WEALTHTRACK might not be airing on your local station,  so we are revisiting a recent interview on the topic of impact investing.   NEW THIS WEEK:  In this week's extra feature we’ll share a link to a report about how you apply socially responsible investing principles to your portfolio from the forum for susta...

It’s the first week of the spring fund raising season on Public Television we are revisiting a recent exclusive interview with Fund Manager of Year winner David Giroux on the growing secular risks in companies. NEW THIS WEEK: A large group of T. Rowe Price’s portfolio managers and analysts recently returned from the firm’s annual trip to Silicon Valley where they pick the brains of top executives...

 International investing star Mark Yockey joins us in a WealthTrack Exclusive to discuss his global stock picks. With episodic exceptions the U.S. has been the place to invest since the global financial crisis. There have been occasional bouts of outperformance by European and emerging markets, specific geographical locals and individual countries but overall, the U.S. markets trajectory...

Our focus this week: The challenge facing most of us! Nobel Prize-winning behavioral economist Richard Thaler recently called the drawing down of money in retirement “way harder” than the saving phase because of the uncertainty of how long we will live.  He is proposing adding 401(k) funds to social security to increase monthly payouts.  This week’s guest, Mark Cortazzo, wholeheartedly a...

Market volatility is back.  The roller coaster trade negotiations between the U.S. and China are lurching downward again causing a multi-day market sell-off rivaling declines in December of last year. The much bigger question is how stable is the world financial system?  A decade ago in the midst of the global financial crisis, it appeared to be on the brink of destruction.  Massive...

Short term interests remain steady. The  Federal Reserve decided to keep its benchmark federal funds rate at the same 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 percent range it had since January when it put its previous series of rate hikes on hold. Two percent is of course the Fed’s target rate for inflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the Fed’s view of price weakness as “ transient ” but said if it continued i...

This summer will mark the longest economic recovery in U.S. history. The bull market already made it into the record books for longevity in August of 2018. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ reached new record highs just this Tuesday. Rather than a cause for celebration many economists, business leaders, consumers and investors have viewed these unparalleled achievements as cause for concern.  Th...