FIBR News and Press, iShares U.S. Fixed Income Balanced Risk Factor ETF From 06/05/19

Unfortunately, for the bulls, gold has been anything but good. The Midas Metal has spent the last 6 years putting traders and investors to sleep. It has oscillated between a high of $1,434 per ounce in 2013 and a low of $1,045 per ounce in late 2015. While there have been periods of excitement...

Markets are again in an unsettled state. Gyrations in trade policy in the United States are one culprit, although more speculative financing practices at the fringes of the system are also running into difficulties. Although I am writing a book on recessions, my argument is that recessions are...

By Bluford Putnam A rally in U.S. Treasuries, with prices rising and yields dropping, has reignited concerns over the health of the economy. What's driving the bond market? Editor's Note: The summary bullets for this article were chosen by Seeking Alpha Read more ...

Inflation expectations have sharply fallen recently, driving down U.S. government bond yields and focusing attention on Fed policy. The market now expects three Fed rate cuts by the end of 2020. The Fed is getting concerned that its current toolkit won't effectively counter a future recession....

Originally published May 17, 2019 Midway through a recent renovation, my new door knobs and new washing machine went up in price. I soon noticed prices for taxis, avocados and many other everyday items jumped too. And yet, the White House and the Fed continue to tell us that inflation is l...

On Friday, the stock market closed down making May the worst month for stocks this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index closed at 2,752, down from the historic highs hit toward the end of April. And, with the growing threat of major tariff changes, the probability that ther...

By Bluford Putnam The U.S. has had an extended and very impressive rally in the prices of U.S. Treasury securities. The 10-year U.S. Treasury has seen its yield move from a recent high of 3.23% in early October 2018, down to 2.22% at the end of May 2019. One of the most important questions...

By Christopher Diaz, CFA Yields on global bonds continued to fall this week as concerns over trade issues escalated and recent U.S. economic data disappointed. Chris Diaz, Co-Head of Global Bonds, discusses the potential implications for investors. Transcript Chris Diaz: U.S. Tr...

I recently discussed one of the biggest potential "flash points" for the financial markets today - corporate debt. What I find most fascinating is how quickly many dismiss the issue of corporate debt with the simple assumption of "it's not the subprime mortgage market." Correct, it's...

We're in the midst of a mini-replay of the drama surrounding Fed policy that played out late last year and early this year. Back then the market was telling the Fed that it was mistaken in planning two more rate hikes this year, but it took the Fed a bit too long to figure that out, and that i...