Like retirees who make the mistake of reaching for yield, pension fund managers have been shifting into hedge funds and private equity — and losing.
Markets
Another Green Shoot: Millionaire Households Rising
Millionaire households in the U.S. are rising again, largely because the mass affluent stayed the course with their stocks during the downturn and are reaping the benefits of the market’s recovery. But frugality also played a big role.
Bonds Are on a Roll — Is it Time to Give Up on Stocks?
A well-known academic argues against stocks, even for the long run. But it feels a bit like arguing that Warren Buffett doesn’t know what he’s doing. Whose side would you take?
With a Pension Shortfall, Companies Want to Kick in Even Less
Just a decade ago pension plans were flush. Today there is a $400 billion shortfall and companies want to do what? That’s right — cut their pension contributions.
Retirement Buster: It’s Your House, Not Your Portfolio
Retirement portfolios held up surprisingly well through the Great Recession. But housing declines made for the worst period in several generations for pre-retirees, a study finds.
Housing Recovery at Last? Evidence Mounts
While experts continue to warn that housing has not yet hit bottom, a slew of indicators suggest otherwise. The latest is a stellar quarterly earnings report from Home Depot, which is benefitting from hopeful owners sprucing up …
Dividend Stocks Are Hot, But They Aren’t Bonds
The search for retirement income in today’s low-yield environment inevitably comes back to dividend paying stocks. How could it not? Money market funds and short-term bank CDs pay about .5%; the 10-year Treasury bond pays only about 2%.
Bernanke to Income-Starved Retirees: Tough Luck
If it wasn’t clear already, it is now: securing decent retirement income in a low-yield environment is going to be a problem for a long time. Seniors who have been eking by through temporary measures like drawing down an …
Why the Smart Money was So Dumb in 2011
If your 401(k) was down in 2011, don’t hang your head. You have plenty of company. Many of Wall Street‘s most successful investors were losers in 2011 as well.
According to Hedgefund Intelligence Database, 60% of all hedge funds …
Price of Orange Juice Futures Soars—Will OJ Prices at the Supermarket Do the Same?
First, it was coffee prices spiking last spring. Then, over the summer, the cost of bacon surged. Now, the price of another breakfast staple—orange juice—could suddenly be heading northward.
What Last Year’s Stock Market Says about 2012
Day to day, the stock market may feel like a roller-coaster, but in fact the U.S. is experiencing stagnation with a very, very faint upward trend.
Skittish Market’s Winners and Losers Point the Way
A highly volatile stock market may have given you whiplash in 2011. But as the year draws to a close, the final numbers don’t look so dramatic: the S&P 500 is poised to end the year almost exactly where it began, and about as …