Asset Allocation Reports
Asset Allocation Weekly (July 6, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee Over the past quarter, emerging market equities have weakened; the primary culprit was a strengthening dollar, although concerns about softer non-U.S. growth likely played a role as well. The dollar’s strength appears to be caused by one of two factors. The first possibility is interest rate differentials, which are partly due to… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 29, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee With the recent narrowing of the yield curve, we have been receiving a number of questions about the impact of inversion. Defined, yield curve inversion is when short-duration interest rates rise above long-duration interest rates. The yield curve is arguably the single best indicator of recession. Therefore, with various calculations of the… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 22, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee Cycle studies are common in analyzing markets. Such studies can be quite useful in some markets that are affected by seasonal factors, such as commodities. We all know it gets cold in the winter and rains in the spring, and measuring the timing of when market participants discount these events can offer… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 15, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee The last topic in our series on secular trends is the dollar. It is arguable as to whether or not exchange rates are actually an asset class. In our asset allocation, we don’t treat it as one. On the other hand, the behavior of the dollar affects most of the other asset… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 8, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee This week, we examine commodities in our fourth installment on secular trends. Commodity prices challenge the notion of “secular.” This chart shows a trend model for real (inflation-adjusted) commodity prices, represented by the Commodity Research Bureau (CRB) commodity index, deflated by CPI. We prefer this commodity index for its long history (over… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (June 1, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee Last week, we discussed secular cycles in the Treasury market. This week we will discuss equities. The rule for secular cycles in equities is rather simple: the price/earnings (P/E) is the critical factor. In general, profits tend to rise over time. Driving the secular trend in equity markets is what investors are… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (May 25, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee Last week we discussed the general idea of secular versus cyclical trends. This week we will look at these concepts with regard to longer duration fixed income. The goal of theory is always to simplify. Theorizing is all about taking complex phenomena and reducing it to basic elements that can guide us… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (May 18, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee In our asset allocation process, we focus on cyclical trends; that doesn’t mean we pay no attention to secular trends but it isn’t our primary emphasis. The lack of clarity around what these terms mean can lead to confusion. And so, over the next few weeks, we will examine the difference between… Read More »
Asset Allocation Weekly (May 11, 2018)
by Asset Allocation Committee Recently, U.S. equities have outperformed emerging market equities. The chart above shows the relative performance of emerging market equities against U.S. equities. A rising line indicates that foreign equities are outperforming. Questions are being raised as to whether this recent decline is the end of what has been a strong relative uptrend… Read More »