The excellent Reshma Kapadia interviewed me in Smart Money regarding the topic of alternative asset mutual funds. The quotes are short, so let’s get right into it. . .here is the link.
Many planners are gravitating toward alternative funds that use derivatives. Lee Munson, chief?investment?officer at wealth manager Portfolio LLC, admits that many clients equate derivatives with the kinds of disastrous bets Wall Streeters made before the crash. But not all derivatives are created evil. One of the most popular types of derivative is the stock option, which is why Munson likes the Gateway fund, a big-company stock mutual fund that also sells options, for “scaredy-cats who want equities.” The options limit the amount the fund can rise but also how far it can fall; it does best when the market is “a roller coaster going nowhere,” says Munson. In other words, it helps investors get more for their money when the market is wobbly.
Ok, I am a scaredy-cat when it comes to a bad economy and high unemployment. . .
Check out my new research piece on here. It was posted on Seeking Alpha.
I go through and describe, point out trouble areas, and give some general tools for investing in MLP’s. Let me know what you think. Here is an except:
Investing in a closed-end fund such as Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. (TYG) that focuses on producing distributions close to what an investor would get if they were directly invested in the MLPs, presents an attractive opportunity that is uncorrelated with the market and also dispels the tax confusion surrounding MLPs. TYG invests in MLPs in the energy infrastructure sector meaning they are involved in the processing, storing and transporting of crude oil, natural gas, and other similar energy commodities.
Discussing whether health care will even pass, with Dan North, Euler Hermes; Paul Schatz, Heritage Capital; Ron Shah, Jina Ventures; Lee Munson, Portfolio Asset Managment; Jay Thomas, actor; Nick DiPaolo, comedian; the real deal squad and CNBC’s Dennis Kneale.
Gosh!! All they let me say was “No!”
Insight on the day’s market rally, with Dan North, Euler Hermes; Paul Schatz, Heritage Capital; Ron Shah, Jina Ventures; Lee Munson, Portfolio Asset Managment; Jay Thomas, actor; Nick DiPaolo, comedian; and CNBC’s Dennis Kneale.
Now I am a bear? Ok, but just for a week or so, relax . . .
Yeah, a textbook will teach you nothing about real life (sorry MBA students). Today the Washington Post put out the truth about the coming recovery in the economy. Read the article here.I have been saying all along we ARE recovering, but what does that mean? Here are some quotes, but just click the link and read it . . .
Increased productivity, combined with other factors, could also bode poorly for employment because as long as businesses can do more with fewer people, they can delay hiring. Adding to that potential delay is the fact that employers have slashed hours to an unprecedented degree to survive the recession. The average time spent working each week is at a record low, and just under 9 million people are working part time for economic reasons.
So, only the stat’s provide relief, but not for most American’s who are out of a job or underemployed. . . .
The summer rally is losing steam today, with Tony Dwyer, FTN Equity Capital Markets; Lee Munson, Portfolio Asset Management; and CNBC’s Melissa Francis.
Oh, yeah – loosing steam alright! I sold out of almost everything today.
Here are the tapes from last nights interview. All I look for right now until option expiration is small pauses, not necessarily full on down days.
Oh, and Dennis – really? My name is generic? So is ‘CNBC Reports’. That name doesn’t exactly suggest ‘rocking with Dennis commando style’. . . . If you change your name I will change mine!
I did do a little shorting, but covered today. Let the true bears get hit. I am looking for stuff to buy. No regrets other than not holding onto WFC for one more day. . .
P.S. I love Joel Miller – keep fighting!!!!! We bring down the median age . . .
Check out my buddy David Reilly’s piece today on Bloomberg here.
Barney Frank wants to decide who is a virtuous investor and who is a no-good speculator, at least when it comes to some derivatives used to bet against financial firms. That should make all investors very afraid.
Who’s to say the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee will stop there? Why not classify investors based on how long they plan to hold onto a company’s securities?
There’s no telling how far things will go in the battle to vilify speculation, a word now used to describe what investors do when they push stock or bond prices in directions that aren’t to the liking of government officials or corporate executives.
We should all be afraid of this type of misguided political demonizing of traders and ‘speculators’. What does this guy want? All of us to put our money in the ‘market’ and let it sit there for 30 years and hope it will all be okay in the end. I admit the best thing we could do now is get rid of naked credit default swap positions. It DOES cause problems in the market. You can’t go though the cancer ward and take out insurance policies on everyone you see, right? But, after we make some reasonable regulations, where will it end? That is what Reilly is getting at. The language about ‘speculators’ could be taken too far in this highly politicized environment.
Shouldn’t we be more worried about Russia right now???????? Geez, I got to get out of the office. . . . I am off the the Hotel Valley Ho to spend some time with the wife and kid. If you are every in Scottsdale it is a must see. . .
