First, the good news: all those fears about runaway inflation following from the massive injections of capital into financial markets appear to have been overblown. Now for the bad news: the alternative may be much worse.
For months wary investors have been eagerly watching CPI reports, fearful of the release indicating that price increases are beginning to accelerate, presumably spiraling out of control in the not-so-distant future. But instead of racing towards the double digits, CPI figures have slipped closer and closer to negative territory. That has sparked fears of deflation, a rare but serious economic condition that has some of the world’s most prominent investors legitimately concerned. [click to continue…]
As U.S. stocks continue to reflect pervasive uneasiness about the prospects for a robust recovery, investors are flocking towards low-risk securities with impressive pace. Recent weeks have seen investors shed their appetite for risk, fleeing equity markets and piling into the relative safety of U.S. Treasury bonds. That has pushed many key rates to record [...]
Crumbling global equity markets have been the story of recent weeks, as investors around the world endure increased levels of volatility related to Europe’s deteriorating fiscal situation and concerns over government debt levels. Furthermore, tame inflation and a stronger dollar has tempered demand for inflation-protected securities as well as most precious metals. These recent events [...]
The ETF industry picked up steam in November, with several highly-anticipated funds coming to market and multiple issuers disclosing new details on innovative products that could be launched in 2010. The biggest news for the month was the entrance of Charles Schwab into the industry with the launch of four ETFs in early November. Debuting [...]
PIMCO, the Newport Beach, California-based bond fund giant, launched its latest exchange-traded fund on Wednesday, the Intermediate Municipal Bond Strategy Fund. The new ETF, which comes with an expense ratio of 35 basis points, will trade under the ticker MUNI, which was somehow still available. The ETF will be managed by John Cummings, the company’s [...]
Newport Beach, California-based PIMCO, one of the largest bond fund companies in the world, has made two additions to its small but growing line of fixed income exchange-traded funds. The PIMCO 3-7 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund (FIVZ) completes the lineup of products covering key rate segments of the Treasury market, fitting between PIMCO’s 1-3 [...]
PIMCO, the bond fund giant that has recently made a splash in the ETF industry, is set to expand its line of U.S. Treasury ETFs, planning the introduction of two new funds: the PIMCO 3-7 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund (FIVZ) and the PIMCO 20+ Year Zero Coupon U.S. Treasury Index Fund (ZROZ). FIVZ will [...]
