ZF News and Press, Virtus Total Return Fund Inc. From 08/15/21

More and more reports continue about the impending market crash. Sadly, very few of such reports are based upon a solid understanding of market context. The next pullback is a buying opportunity. For further details see: Sentiment Speaks: The Market Is About To Crash - P...

The pandemic is expected to change the labor market, with more work from home and higher wages. One unexpected change is the large increase in new business applications. Last Spring, there was speculation people were forming businesses because of a bad labor market. But as of June...

Sideways markets happen not because the stock market gods play an unkind joke on gullible humans, but because of human emotions. Historically, sideways markets have always followed secular bull markets. At the end of secular bull markets, stocks become very expensive - their valuation...

Hawkish soundbites and positive economic news dominate for the US, despite global growth concerns. Officials talking about tapering within a few months should help focus minds at the long end of the curve, despite a supportive technical backdrop for bonds. A glut of cash remains i...

The latest Jobs Report was huge figure after huge figure. The unemployment rate collapsed to 5.4%, and the US economy added almost a million jobs. Truly great numbers across the board. The really interesting thing about this report is the unemployment rate, because that’s the f...

The U.S. is passing the baton in leading the economic restart to other developed markets; but we see fresh challenges in many emerging markets. Better-than-expected U.S. jobs data drove U.S. 10-year bond yields to the highest level in two weeks. U.S. stocks hit record highs. China...

Market valuations are elevated, but that does not make markets go down. The only thing that can stop this market now is a lack of liquidity and the Fed withdrawing support. The Fed has already enacted the reverse repo, which has drained $1 trillion out of markets. That’s the st...

The New Normal looks a lot like the Old Normal in that it is unknown and ever changing. All we can do is observe the present with clear eyes. For now, the economic outlook is still pretty good. It isn’t the boom everyone was expecting a few months ago, and it probably wonȁ...

Record market highs we are experiencing relate more to capitalization-weighted indices than strength in the average stock composing those indices. Tear apart the numbers, and the results show we have been in a significant downturn in the simple average stock since February 2021. "...

Up until the last decade, negative interest rates were the stuff of abstract theory. Today, the volume of fixed-income securities trading with yields below zero runs to $16.5 trillion, having grown steadily over the past two months with the renewed rally in global bond prices. Expecta...