Step away from the intense bouts of volatility that recently have characterized financial markets, and an important trend emerges that is unsettling investors large and small. With few exceptions, investments simply are not generating the average annual returns that they’ve come to expect.
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In the past few months, stock markets around the world have continued to rally modestly while bond yields around the world have continued their quiet decline. This is not what most expected, especially after December, when the Federal Reserve began paring back its hypereasy money policy of “quantitative easing.”
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Albuquerque Financial Expert and Founder of Portfolio Wealth Advisers Lee Munson is asked his opinions on the stock markets recent surge. Is this another 2000 or can we continue to expand our economy? None of this is as important as having a solid game plan matched with a better investment philosophy. Zachary Karabell, Envestnet head of global strategy, sees a lot of skepticism of what's behind the rally as markets continue to go up. Lee Munson, Portfolio Asset Management, weighs in.
Read moreBells Are Ringing! Confidence Rises as the Dow—Finally—Hits 13,000 Again
The Dow Jones industrial average briefly flirted with 13,000 today, marking the first time since May 2008 that the august index has reached that level. The number is purely symbolic, of course, but the steady rise of stocks this year (with the major indices up anywhere from 5 to 10 percent) has taken many by surprise, none more than Wall Street professionals who have assumed a Greek default and the ensuing financial catastrophe to be a near certainty. Instead of a Europe-led meltdown, we are witnessing a melt-up.
Read moreIT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL
If there is one ubiquitous piece of financial advice, it is this: invest in different markets. Each month, the major private wealth banks in the world publish their recommended allocations. They might suggest putting 60 percent in stocks, and in turn breaking that down into U.S., European and emerging-market stocks, and an additional 40 percent in bonds, varying from U.S. Treasuries to municipal notes.
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