FINANCIAL ADVISOR INSIGHTS: Advisors Are Still Bullish On Apple

FA Insights is a daily newsletter from Business Insider that delivers the top news and commentary for financial advisors.

Advisors Continue To Be Bullish On Apple (The Wall Street Journal)

Investors have been spooked by Apple's recent performance, but advisors are telling their clients that it still makes sense as a long-term holding in a well-diversified portfolio.

Some like Lee Munson, owner of Portfolio LLC told the WSJ, "Now is where you're shaking out a lot of the retail investors and hedge fund managers that really are just using that money to go buy other things and aren't really interested in the company itself. ...Over the next few days, if we continue to see a lot of selling, it might be a buying opportunity."

Others like Joseph Doyle an advisor at Morris Capital Advisors said he told clients he had limited their exposure by cutting their Apple stake in half back in September and that they believe "it remains a good long-term investment".

The Evidence Against Actively Managed Investment Funds Is Staggering (Investopedia)

There is increasing evidence that hedge funds, mutual funds and private equity don't provide value for their investors.

Latest data shows that 70 percent of private equity profits go to managers instead of investors. There are 10 key reasons not to invest in managed funds. Some of these include underperformance, hidden costs, and size bias - "institutions often get too big to invest meaningfully in smaller companies which much research has shown offer the best opportunity for outperformance", to name a few.

The 1994 Moment That's Keep More And More Bond Traders Awake At Night (Business Insider)

In 1994, the U.S. economy was emerging from a recession and Treasury yields began to rise from their 1993 lows despite the absence of any signs of inflation. Just then the Fed decided to tighten monetary policy causing Treasuries to plunge and interest rates to surge higher.

After some surprisingly hawkish sentiment was revealed in the minutes of the December FOMC meeting, some are wondering if we are likely to see a repeat of 1994.

5 Lessons To Invest By (Marketwatch)

Investors should have a plan and find a process that works for them to follow through according to Chuck Jaffe at MarketWatch. He says finding this process involves 5 crucial steps. 1) "Value long-term effectiveness over short-term results" 2) Be rigorous and disciplined 3) Be honest about how much risk you can take 4) Really commit to a system 5) Diversify.

Don't Fear Sequestration, The Stock Market Wants Big Spending Cuts (Deutsche Bank)

Deutsche Bank's David Bianco has raised his year-end S&P 500 target to 1,600, from 1,575. "We are encouraged by recent legislation to sever the issue of spending cuts from the debt ceiling," he writes in a note to clients.

"A higher debt ceiling side-lines the tail risk of default on debt or entitlement payments and puts the focus on a new spending cut agreement or following through with sequestration.

"Don’t fear sequestration, significant spending cuts are desired for stocks. ...Another can-kick invites new risks, whereas sequestration will prevent US credit rating downgrades and keep the Fed accommodative."