Some excellent insight from David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors: Jim Bianco noted an interesting development in his May 1, 2013, chart pack (http://www.arborresearch.com/bianco/?cat=7) . He observed that in the second quarter of this year the US Treasury was paying down debt for the first time since 2006. We started to think about that and what… Read More
Point of No Return
by • May 6, 2013
Bob Eisenbeis, Chief Monetary Economist of Cumberland Advisors, sent this great piece over earlier today: An astute reader and some-time fishing partner raised an interesting issue in connection with a recent commentary. That commentary focused on the problems the Fed faces in designing an exit strategy from its current policy accommodation once the economy really… Read More
Gold
by • April 19, 2013
My friend David Kotok, Chairman and CIO of Cumberland Advisors, has this excellent piece out today on gold. Definitely worth a read. Gold made the headlines with a rapid plunge, some possible basing, and then another plunge. Let’s talk about gold for a minute. Central bankers prefer to have the public, the investor class, and… Read More
Alternatives—A Common Sense Approach
by • March 27, 2013
Alpha. Core and Satellite. Modern Portfolio Theory. Correlation. It seems that the financial world has fallen in love with a whole new language. But is the point to drive smarter investments, or just higher fees? Well, let’s forget all the lingo and look at the facts. This one is key: the traditional 60/40 investment model… Read More
The Resurgence of Art Funds —Turning a Passion into Investment Returns
by • March 27, 2013
Investing in alternative assets such as art and gold during times of inflationary pressure and turmoil in the financial markets is nothing new. Recently, however, the prevalence of so-called “passion investments” has increased, with art funds emerging as an attractive alternative investment. This article explains how art funds work and sets forth important things to… Read More
Investing in Farmland: Cultivating a Diversification Opportunity
by • March 26, 2013
The following is a Q&A with TIAA-CREF Senior Economist Tim Hopper on the subject of investing in farmland. Farmland has attracted significant institutional investor interest recently because of its distinctive investment characteristics and ongoing price appreciation. A key resource in the agricultural production chain, farmland is also – like oil and other commodities –… Read More
An Inefficient Market Hypothesis
by • March 26, 2013
My understanding of the “efficient market hypothesis” is that all information is already “priced in” to the market and that only new information that is different than expectations can move markets. I’m not sure which is funnier, that at one point I was willing to believe that, or that a lot of people a lot smarter… Read More
Emotional Investing and Managed Futures Performance
by • March 26, 2013
As is the case in every asset class under the sun, managed futures investors love to chase performance. The sustainability of a strategy often comes second to double or even triple digit returns. We do our best to discourage such decision making, because in our experience, this is uniquely damaging in managed futures allocations. The… Read More