Best Blogs of the Week

Best Blogs of the Week #199

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 18, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Though the week’s financial news focused on the Chinese government devaluing the yuan, we liked three posts on highly different topics.

How to Invest for the Greater Good –BlackRock

“Impact investing targets a very clear social or environmental outcome that is measurable and transparent. Instead of just refraining from investing in something that doesn’t align with your beliefs, you’re focusing on companies that are operating responsibly and having a positive impact on the world.”

Top 5 Smart Beta FAQs –BlackRock

“Transparency is a defining attribute of smart beta strategies.”

How U.S.-Centric is Your U.S. Equity Exposure? –WisdomTree

“If you believe the U.S. dollar trend is set to reverse, such an environment would favor U.S. exporters and the WisdomTree Weak Dollar U.S. Equity Index”

Best Blogs of the Week #198

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 11, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Two posts to consider from last week. While there’s a plethora on Puerto Rico and volatility, these two global-oriented posts stood out.

Emerging Markets Best Positioned to Withstand a Fed Hike –BlackRock

“Though emerging market equities have recently lost some ground thanks to volatility in China, they’re still up over the longer term compared to their own history.”

Global Growth Forecast –Loomis Sayles

“We have shaved our US GDP forecast down to 2.3% from 2.9%, mostly on account of weaker exports, a strong dollar and the decline in oil prices. In emerging markets, we still believe Asia Pacific is currently a bright spot – but we expect China to slow further as easing measures fail to gain traction.”

Best Blogs of the Week #197

Posted by Anu Heda on Aug 04, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Two excellent posts (titled as questions no less) helpful to any FA updating client asset allocations.

Is it Time to Buy Commodities? –BlackRock

“… meaning that commodity prices are likely to remain under some pressure. This suggests that for investors, the better opportunity may be in the companies that produce the commodities, rather than in the commodities themselves.”

Are your clients wondering if it’s too late to invest? –Russell

“I asked some of our blog readers how many times they thought the stock market had made a new daily high over the last 20 years. I have to admit that I was surprised by the answer.”

Best Blogs of the Week #196

Posted by Anu Heda on Jul 27, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , ,

All three posts this week cover important international situations.

Shopping for Bargains –AB

Russia’s economic woes have driven down both labor and real estate costs—the big players’ two largest operating expenses. This should make it cheaper for them to open more stores in future—providing yet another boost to their consolidation prospects.

Looking past Greece –Invesco 

The Chinese equity market has declined sharply over the past month, with the Shanghai Composite Index off 34.9% from its June 12 high to a July 9 low. This decline is on par with the 1987 US stock market crash, but has yet to reach the depths of the 2007 sell-off in China or the US financial crisis of 2007 and 2008

Exploring the Frontier of Emerging Markets –Wisdom Tree

Although frontier markets can be considered a subset of emerging markets (EM), they also have low correlations to the rest of the investable marketplace.

Best Blogs of the Week #195

Posted by Anu Heda on Jul 20, 2015, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

Two posts this week, one with a top 5 and the other with a top 10. Both helpful as FAs support clients at the midyear mark.

Five Portfolio Moves for the Second Half –BlackRock

We have long been saying that the second half was likely to be characterized by more volatility,

Our World After Greece –MFS 

While investors were distracted with Greece’s troubles, the global economy has been moving forward.