Interest Rates Change…Which Changes Everything
Every trading day, financial markets are “re-pricing” interest rates via changes in treasury yields or corporate bonds yields or the interest rate of a new debt issuance. But the majority of daily change is caused by short-term news and events from newly released economic data, inflation reports, central bank chatter and other news. The daily […]
Fundamentals of Investing
In preview, we expect this will be a “boring” insight but an important foundation for proper investing. What are the proper investing fundamentals? The Conventional Definition is “The act of committing money or capital for purpose or expectations of financial gain”. But the conventional definition does not differentiate between thoughtful and wishful actions. The act […]
Opportunities With Changing Interest Rates
Inflation is up, but bank deposit rates and CD rates have declined since September 2024. Why? The Federal Reserve has reduced the Fed Funds rate 6 times to the current target near 3.5%. A good option is with TIPS–Treasury Inflation Protected Securities. But do not invest in just any TIP. The right TIP depends a […]
Bond Insight: Beyond the Coupon
“Bonds are Confusing” is perhaps the most common thing heard from others at HiLine Capital Management. We are undertaking an initiative to provide – in plain English as best we can – the necessary elements about bonds and bond investing. In our minds, there are 10 elements judged necessary to understand the “big picture” as […]
Opportunities with Changing Interest Rates
One way to make more money is with effective short-term bond strategies. In the current environment of falling interest rates, it has become more difficult to retain high levels of yield. Strategies in place may be negatively impacted by falling interest rates. But not all investment strategies have declined in yields.
Evidence-Based Investing
Evidence-Based Medicine became a formal movement in the continuous pursuit of improvement in the quality and consistency of clinical care. In the “olden days”, there was wide variation in practice patterns, tools, solutions and outcomes. At one point in time, it was “conventional” to use mercury for treating syphilis or gout, it was acceptable to […]
Cash Is King
Occasionally markets are priced at more extreme levels due to excessive optimism or pessimism. Presently, the excitement surrounding the potential benefits related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) has elevated prices paid for many assets to high levels. Alternatively, as it relates to the bond markets, the potential pessimism towards sovereign debt stability, due to high deficits […]
The Future Is Uncertain – Part 2
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd” — Voltaire Covid started 5 years ago. At the time, the future was cloudy, confusing and “more uncertain” Day by day, week by week and month by month the pandemic gave way to normalcy. The world appeared more normal until Liberation Day. The process of […]
Markets Within Markets
“I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people” Isaac Newton On December 31, 2024, The Wall Street Journal reported “Stocks Cap Best Two Years in a Quarter-Century.” The story reports investors are far richer, increasingly bullish with expectations of continued interest rate reductions, strong economy and market gains.There are […]
Same As Ever
The night before the D-Day invasion, Franklin Roosevelt asked Eleanor how she felt about not knowing what would happen next. Eleanor replied; “To be sixty and still rebel at uncertainty is ridiculous, isn’t it?” But we all do it. The future is uncertain and occasionally intimidating. And its easier to believe one can predict, anticipate […]