The possibility of a trade war is creating uncertainty in the global markets. What should investors do? The Schwab Market Pulse takes a look at the situation and suggests ways for investors to protect their portfolios. Considering the effect that recessions have on investment performance, it’s important to keep an eye out for the next one. While it’s impossible to precisely predict the start of one, there are six indicators to watch, as Advisor Perspectives reports. People who are worried about market fluctuations are often talked into buying annuities for the promise of a steady income stream. But for most investors, annuities are a terrible idea. Marc Lichtenfeld explains why for MarketWatch.
Trade Bumps: What Should Investors Know?- Trade policy was thrust into the headlines in early March with President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would impose stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Global markets fell sharply after the announcement. Concerns surrounding the tariffs and what they might mean for global trade haven’t gone away. Schwab explains what’s going on here and what investors should focus on. Read more…
Forecasting The Next Recession– The business cycle is one of the most important drivers of investment performance. Recessions lead to outsized moves across asset markets. Predicting recessions well in advance is notoriously difficult. Using history as a guide, however, Guggenheim Partners find that it may be possible to get an early read on when the next recession will begin by analyzing the late-cycle behavior of several key economic and market indicators. Read more…
Why Annuities Are A Bad Idea For Almost Everyone– Annuities are such terrible investments that the minute the government passed a law specifying that financial professionals had to act in their clients best interest, annuity sales fell off a cliff. In 2016, new rules were passed by the Department of Labor that stated that brokers have to act as fiduciaries. That means they had to put their clients’ best interest ahead of their own. Believe it or not, prior to the rule being passed, stock and insurance brokers could sell you anything they wanted — whether it was right for your or not. So typically, they sold whatever paid the highest commissions. Read more…
John R. Day, Bill Ennis, Stephanie Hall and Matt Heller