November 24, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “The essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns.” - Benjamin Graham Happy Thanksgiving to you and your wonderful family.  Today’s post is holiday short because by the time it hits your in box I’ll hopefully be [...]Read More >

November 17, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “If you are adding to your long-term holdings of stocks and other risk assets at current market valuations, you are likely to be betting -- knowingly or not -- on a combination of three drivers of future returns; or you are planning to sell your holdings to [...]Read More >

November 10, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “We are going to have to address the debt.  And we are going to get more debt.” – Joe Kalish, Chief Global Macro Strategist, Ned Davis Research This week’s On My Radar is an investment outlook piece.  While current trend evidence remains bullish, you’ll see [...]Read More >

November 3, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “There are essentially two forces influencing returns: growth and inflation. The task, then, is building a portfolio that can weather any scenario, regardless of what these factors are doing…  You should be building a diversified portfolio with assets that [...]Read More >

October 27, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “Collectively, the Fed, European Central Bank and Bank of Japan own one-third of the global bond market. “ – Mary Ellen Stanek, CFA Managing Director and Director of Asset Management, Robert W. Baird & Co., Chief Investment Officer, Baird [...]Read More >

October 20, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “You have to bet against the consensus and be right to be successful in the markets.” – Ray Dalio, Founder, Bridgewater Associates, LP It remains a decidedly risk-on environment.  Interest rates are higher, the dollar is higher and the stock market is higher. [...]Read More >

October 13, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “Long-term Investors need to be invested in long-term assets, but pay special attention to limiting downside losses. The best way to make money in the long term is not losing it in the short term.” – Dr. David Kelly, Chief Global Strategist J.P. Morgan Asset [...]Read More >

October 6, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal "We think the main attribute of the next crisis will be severe liquidity disruptions resulting from market developments since the last crisis." - Marko Kolanovic, Ph.D., Head of Quantitative and Derivatives Strategy, JP Morgan Chase & Co. (Source: The [...]Read More >

September 29, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “It isn’t what’s in my head that’s most valuable, although I did learn a lot along the way; it’s knowing how to deal with not knowing that’s been the source of my success.” – Ray Dalio I’d like to take you to two places today.  One is life and the pursuit [...]Read More >

September 22, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “The message from a string of BIS [Bank of International Settlements] reports is that the US dollar is both the barometer and agent of global risk appetite and credit leverage. Episodes of dollar weakness - such as this year - flush the world with liquidity [...]Read More >

September 15, 2017 By Stephen Blumenthal “While asset prices have decoupled from fundamentals, the gap has been filled by quantitative easing, large cash reserves by corporations and worsening inequality.” - Mohamed El-Erian: In Investing, The Journey Is Not The Destination Last week, investors [...]Read More >

September 8, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “Expect lower returns and rocky markets for the next 2-3 years.” > Joe Davis, Global Chief Economist, Vanguard Group I’m writing to you from Chicago where I am attending the Morningstar ETF Conference.  Vanguard’s global chief economist, Joe Davis, kicked [...]Read More >

September 1, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “No act of kindness is too small.  The gift of kindness may start as a small ripple that over time can turn into a tidal wave affecting the lives of many.” Kevin Heath The car is loaded with clean clothes and dog food.  I’m heading out mid-morning to help [...]Read More >

August 25, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “[T]he big elephant in the room is the Fed.” David Rosenberg Chief Economist and Strategist, Gluskin Sheff + Associates This week the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is hosting its annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and a number [...]Read More >

August 18, 2017 By Steve Blumenthal “Anything that has happened economically, has happened over and over again.” – Ray Dalio Founder, Bridgewater Associates, in Bloomberg Interview My thinking is impatient and mostly critical as I sift through research each week.  I’m sure my “get to the point” [...]Read More >