BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com BloggingStocks http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/media/feedlogo.gif BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Ray of Light: Risk Appetite Has Increased]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/07/29/ray-of-light-risk-appetite-has-increased/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/07/29/ray-of-light-risk-appetite-has-increased/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2010/07/29/ray-of-light-risk-appetite-has-increased/#commentsFiled under:

Experienced investors know that even the most-sobering economic reports can contain 'gems' or small-but-significant, positive data points.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book report on the economy is a classic example. The Fed confirmed that the U.S. economic recovery had slowed in the second quarter, with regions reporting uneven levels of growth.

The gem? The recovery, although in low gear, nevertheless remains fast enough for commercial borrowers to service their debt, and this is helping to stabilize the commercial debt market.

Continue reading Ray of Light: Risk Appetite Has Increased

Ray of Light: Risk Appetite Has Increased originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Beige Bookbond marketcredit marketFedinthenewsriskrisk appetiterisk aversionThu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Flight-to-safety lowering interest rates, helping U.S. finance deficit]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/15/flight-to-safety-lowering-interest-rates-helping-u-s-finance-d/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/15/flight-to-safety-lowering-interest-rates-helping-u-s-finance-d/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/15/flight-to-safety-lowering-interest-rates-helping-u-s-finance-d/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Imagine paying the United States government to hold your money for three months.

The condition appears to turn investment theory on its head, but that's what investors are doing in today's uncertain, risk-averse markets.

Foreign investors are accumulating Treasuries at the fastest pace since 1988, up 12% since September, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing U.S. Federal Reserve data. They are becoming institutional investors' mattress. The tactic is driving Treasury rates to record lows: the 2-year note has fallen to 0.76% from 3.11% on June 13, while the 3-month Treasury turned negative on December 9 for the first time.

Meanwhile, the 10-year and 30-year Treasuries have fallen to 2.55% and 3.04%, respectively -- not much return on your investment, but that's beside the point: investors currently are more concerned about the return of their investment than the return on their investment.

Still, economist David H. Wang said there's an upside and a downside to the lower interest rates for Treasuries.

Continue reading Flight-to-safety lowering interest rates, helping U.S. finance deficit

Flight-to-safety lowering interest rates, helping U.S. finance deficit originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>budget deficitflight to safetyinterest ratesinthenewsnational debtrisk aversionU.S. Treasury billsU.S. Treasury notesMon, 15 Dec 2008 10:29:00 EST<![CDATA[U.S. 10-year bond quickly becoming an electronic 'mattress' for savers]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/21/u-s-10-year-bond-quickly-becoming-an-electronic-mattress-for/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/21/u-s-10-year-bond-quickly-becoming-an-electronic-mattress-for/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/21/u-s-10-year-bond-quickly-becoming-an-electronic-mattress-for/#commentsFiled under: , ,

To look at it optimistically, it's a period of risk aversion.

Economists, business executives, analysts, and certainly employees are hoping it doesn't become an 'era of risk aversion' - - a longer period where businesses shun expansions and new projects, and investors avoid stocks.

Further, the risk-aversion theme is prompting investors large and small to flock to the 10-year U.S. Treasuries bond, also called 10-year notes, the yield for which was 3.05% on Friday at mid-day. (Bond prices move in the opposite direction of yield. Hence, when demand is strong, such as now, a rise in bond prices pushes their yield lower.)

Moreover the 10-year yield is likely to fall further in the next two quarters, as more investors flock to safe investments amid the U.S. recession, so says economist Richard Felson.

"We're seeing the value of safety come to the forefront. In this climate, investors don't care about yield, their primary concern is capital preservation," Felson said. "And despite the increase in debt the United States is likely to record over the next two years, the lowest risk investment remains U.S. Treasury notes. It's quickly becoming a sort of electronic mattress, the way savers used to store money in mattresses decades ago. Investors are saying, 'Here, take my money and store it until conditions improve.' "

Continue reading U.S. 10-year bond quickly becoming an electronic 'mattress' for savers

U.S. 10-year bond quickly becoming an electronic 'mattress' for savers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>10-year note10-year treasurybond marketbondsinterest ratesinthenewsrisk aversionU.S. Tresasury notesyieldFri, 21 Nov 2008 13:18:00 EST<![CDATA[Who's the risk-averse investor: gramps or the young whippersnapper?]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/11/04/whos-the-risk-averse-investor-gramps-or-the-young-whippersnapp/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/11/04/whos-the-risk-averse-investor-gramps-or-the-young-whippersnapp/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/11/04/whos-the-risk-averse-investor-gramps-or-the-young-whippersnapp/#commentsFiled under:

We know that younger drivers are more likely to get in accident than drivers in their forties. This probably is due to a combination of factors -- a lack of experience plays a role, but also teenagers tend to process situations and evaluate risk differently than their older counterparts.

Is the same true for investing? Money's Jason Zweig looks at the ways that senior citizens are likely to differ from younger investors: "New research by finance professor Alok Kumar shows that the average investor exhibits an 'abrupt and significant drop in performance around the age of 70,' probably because of fading memory and rising impulsiveness."

It turns out that older investors may actually be less risk-averse, and more willing to gamble, than their younger counterparts. Combine this with the tendency for memory problems and less agile mental processing in the later years, and you have a group of people who are extremely vulnerable to hucksters and charlatans selling life insurance, stocks, or business opportunities.

If you are concerned about your aging parents being targeted by con artists, check out Fraud.org's page on elder fraud and the Consumer Action's Elder Fraud Leader's Guide.

Who's the risk-averse investor: gramps or the young whippersnapper? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>AgeAlok Kumarelder fraudInvestingJason Zweigrisk aversionSun, 04 Nov 2007 13:10:00 EST