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Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift's father is a money manager, but her money manager? (onwallstreet)
Financial advisors drool over the prospects of managing the vast wealth of a megastar like Taylor Swift. Recent speculation points to Swift's father, Scott Swift, a Merrill Lynch advisor, as the man in charge the pop stars finances.
"My dad is a stockbroker," Taylor Swift says in a recently released YouTube video. "He lives and breathes it … My dad is so passionate about what he does, like in the way I'm passionate about music … He's so gung-ho for his job and I saw how happy it made him, and I just thought, like, 'I can broke stocks.'"
Focus on cyclical, less rate-sensitive stocks (BlackRock)
Russ Koesterich, Blackrock's Chief Investment Strategist and Head of the Model Portfolio & Solutions Business, notes last week's stock market rally came as US equities played catch-up with their international peers.
"We expect long-term interest rates will rise this year, if only modestly. Ultra-low yields overseas will continue to support demand for U.S. bonds, supporting their prices and exerting some downward pressure on long-term rates. But even if rates remain relatively low, the bond market proxy sectors look extremely vulnerable, as their valuations are highly sensitive to increases in interest rates. Given this dynamic, we'd continue to focus on more cyclical, less rate-sensitive segments of the U.S. equity market. This would include technology, financials and integrated oil companies," Mr. Koesterich said.
5 great IRA options (Forbes)
Rob Berger, a Forbes contributor, examines the different IRA options as tax season moves into high gear. Berger provides five different options and says, "One of these options should work for every type of investor, whether you are looking to invest in low cost index funds, trade stocks or options, or squirrel money away in an FDIC insured account."
The five IRAs he discusses: Vanguard, Betterment, Scottrade, Ally Bank, and WealthFront.
A history of bond yields from 1934 to 2015 (Live Trading News)
"What made the 1930s so depressing was counter-party failure. During the Roaring 1920s, easy money flowing from the Federal Reserve ultimately flowed into ill-considered business ventures which obtained financing only because the Fed made the money available. These enterprises were ultimately doomed to fail, but not before they had flooded the bond market with fixed income instruments sporting 'attractive yields,'" argues Paul Ebeling.
He concludes, "Simply enough; bond yields are no longer set by risk and reward factors, but by Dumb and Dumber over at the Federal Reserve."
Consider office space bonds (Livemint)
According to the Savills-Deakin University World Office Yield Spectrum, the rush of money into Grade-A commercial properties has pushed yields in Hong Kong and New York City down to 2.85% and 3.29%, when excluding tenant incentives, the lowest in the world.
On the other hand, San Francisco and Singapore are seeing the highest effective yields at 5.39% and 4.85%, respectively.