ZF News and Press, Virtus Total Return Fund Inc. From 10/05/21

Risk-adjusted performance continued to rise in September for the Global Market Index (GMI), an unmanaged, market-value-weighted portfolio that holds all the major asset classes (except cash). GMI’s 0.97 Sharpe ratio is close to the highest levels reached in recent history. ...

Global Market Index is useful as a starting point for research on asset allocation and portfolio design. Predictions for the market components are subject to greater uncertainty compared with aggregating forecasts, a process that may cancel out some of the errors through time. Com...

Global markets suffered their broadest retreat in a year during September. The bullish exception: commodities, which delivered a solid gain last month. Notably, US stocks and bonds lost ground, giving support to concerns that the historical diversification benefits of pairing the two ...

Regardless of what happens with the economy and bonds over the rest of the year, we are nearing peak exuberance in stocks. Most people fear that a slowing economy will be the trigger for a stock market selloff, but that may be the wrong worry. Bear markets are generally associated wit...

This week was a Triple Witch Week in the markets. Triple Witches are the four days in the calendar year that feature the expiration of four different option indices. While the volume was and still is quite large on Triple Witches, the volatility is usually pretty subdued. The thing to...

This week's Sentiment Survey report by the American Association of Individual Investors showed bullish sentiment fell over 16 percentage points to 22.45% versus the prior week. This is the lowest bullishness reading since the end of July 2020 reading of 20.23%. For further detai...

Is September as bad for stocks as the media would have you believe? Is a significant correction imminent, and does the "September effect" make it more likely? The bifurcated market... the shoe may be moving to the other foot. For further details see: The Worst Month For ...

With year-end just several months away, money managers great and small are focused laser-like on year-end returns. But the environment is looking a little twitchier as Q4 approaches. Peak growth, sticky inflation, ongoing supply chain problems, high valuations and potentially disrupti...

The language being using to describe this market is "frustrating, but not fatal." The headline indexes have continued to grind higher, but this is a market that has been correcting, consolidating, and churning under the surface for most of the summer. The idea of an economic “g...

Interest rates are falling following the weaker CPI reading. Rates are likely to fall even further as the economy continues to slow. However, this time falling rates won't result in growth stocks rising. For further details see: Falling Rates Won't Save Growth Stocks Thi...