by Manchester Financial | Jul 24, 2013 | Economy, Investing, Markets
After a period of relative calm, volatility returned to all financial markets in May and June. Core bonds lost -3.3% from May 1 through June 30—one of the worst two-month declines in the benchmark’s 37-year history. Long-term Treasury Bonds lost -9.8% in the last...
by Manchester Financial | May 21, 2013 | Economy, Investing, Markets
The 30-year bear market in bonds has reduced yields to paltry levels. The 10-year Treasury has frequently hovered near 1.6% in recent months, yet it has averaged 6% over the past 50 years. Because bond prices move in the opposite direction of interest rates, investors...
by Manchester Financial | Apr 18, 2013 | Economy, Investing, Markets
Supported by an accommodative Federal Reserve, U.S. economic fundamentals continue to grudgingly improve. Unemployment is slowly falling, home prices are rising, and corporate earnings and profitability are near record highs. Stimulative Fed actions appear to be...
by Manchester Financial | Jan 22, 2013 | Economy, Investing, Markets
The end of 2012 produced some major media-induced worries with November’s Election, December’s Mayan end-of-the-world prediction and the Fiscal Cliff. And yet, despite all those looming disasters, we’ve just come through a year in which stock returns were not...
by Manchester Financial | Oct 22, 2012 | Economy, Investing, Markets
The strong stock market in recent months seems to suggest that things are pretty good, while our analysis warns us that serious risks and challenges remain. Here are some of the short-term positives the market has been reflecting: The European Central Bank (ECB) is...
by Manchester Financial | Aug 9, 2012 | Economy, Investing, Markets
Fueled by the lack of bad news out of Europe, the market continues its climb back to the 2012 high it reached in April. There is hope that fiscal and monetary cooperation in the region could keep the fiscal crisis from spinning out of control. However, recent market...
