The Janet Yellen Fed clearly is paying close attention to the labor markets, and she has remarked several times that she thinks the unemployment level is unacceptably high. She sees a lot of slack in the labor markets and is particularly interested in seeing wages rise. The labor force participation rate also is key for Yellen as she has indicated that this indicator, too, must also be on the rise …Read More
Hedging against oil spikes
The recent turmoil in Iraq has led many people to believe that the price of crude oil could spike and derail the economy. Jay Leno once joked, “There was a sign at the gas station near by my house that said, ‘We take Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card, and American Express.’ After I filled up, they took my Visa, Master Card, my Discover Card, and my American Express.” The price of …Read More
Bond strategies for low rates and rising inflation
First published at Marketwatch.com http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bond-strategies-for-low-rates-and-rising-inflation-2014-06-16 Interest rates fell far this year and could stay low for some time. The world is awash with liquidity as central banks around the globe maintain highly accommodative monetary policies. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond started 2014 at 3% and has since fallen to around 2.5%. The 10-year yield bottomed below 1.45% in 2012. Jeffrey Gundlach of the DoubleLine funds thinks …Read More