June 27, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal I listened to a Lacy Hunt presentation this week.  In his view, debt is choking growth in the U.S. and the balance of the developed world and will continue to do so.  In short, he shared research detailing that when total debt gets above 275% GDP, growth slows [...]Read More >

June 20, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal "The concept behind investor sentiment is that the stock market tends to be a manifestation of group psychology in motion.  Highs tend to coincide with extreme group enthusiasm and lows coincide with excessive group fear.  At extremes in opinion, the stock market [...]Read More >

June 13, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal "Believe in yourself.  Have faith in your abilities!  Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."  - Norman Vincent Peale When I was young, I was crazy about soccer.  My dad, like many, was a baseball, [...]Read More >

June 6, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal One of the more challenging debates in our business is tied to the proper use of P/E (price/earnings) as a valuation measure.  One expert says P/Es are low, pointing to forward earnings estimates. The other says P/Es are high.  Buy at bargain prices or overpay? [...]Read More >

May 30, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal “Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile: just as a parent who overly cocoons a child prepares that offspring poorly to function in the wider world, so policy makers intent on cushioning the private sector from every shock in the economic cycle are doing the overall system a [...]Read More >

May 23, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal "Once in a while you will stumble upon the truth but most of us manage to pick ourselves up and hurry along as if nothing had happened."  - Winston Churchill Trading high yield bonds for nearly 24 years has taught me a thing or two about opportunity and risk.  [...]Read More >

May 16, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal “Become a master observer.  Have the willingness to look at things that nobody else has bothered to look at. Identify points of meaning.  We learn when we observe.” Peyton Manning Famed quarterback Peyton Manning presented this morning at the Envestnet 2014 [...]Read More >

May 9, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal “Man.  Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.  Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.  And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present: the result being that he does not live in the present or the future: [...]Read More >

May 2, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal Valuations are flashing red.  Driven higher by QE, the markets have exceeded (as measured by John Hussman) the prior bubble records achieved in 2000 and 2007.  Brace yourself (and your portfolios). This doesn't mean markets can't move higher; central banks have [...]Read More >

Dear clients, friends and family: Following is the 2014 first quarter net performance information for CMG’s Tactical Investment Strategies along with our thoughts on each strategy over the past quarter.  In addition, we have provided the net performance for the CMG Managed Blends and the CMG [...]Read More >

April 25, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal “The Fed’s manipulations have left it in the position of a tightrope walker with no net; one who must exert all his energy in a concentrated effort just to keep moving forward, even as the slightest slip or unexpected gust could cause a catastrophic end to the [...]Read More >

April 11, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal The Fed owns 30% of all mortgage backed securities and nearly 25% of all the Treasury bonds.  Wow! Unimaginable, but real. I find myself frequently visiting the Fed’s website.  I particularly like Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher.  As a former fund [...]Read More >

Recent pieces have focused on the likely path to higher interest rates.  This is a major problem for all bond investors, especially if you have 40% or more allocated to bonds.  The vast majority of investors own bonds. I believe the bond market is experiencing a long-term secular bull peak.  With [...]Read More >

March 28, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  Winston Churchill. Last night I had the absolute pleasure of seeing NY Times columnist Adam Bryant, speak at my stepson’s school.  Bryant [...]Read More >

March 21, 2014 By Steve Blumenthal It was a big week for Chairwoman Janet Yellen.  Loved her transparency.  Can’t you just feel the collective investment world sitting on the edge of its seat?  We are all watching with concern and for good reason. So with interest rates front and center, [...]Read More >