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Current bond yields have long-term appeal I will be candid with you. Your correspondent is most assuredly not a professional journalist. And, being an accountant by trade, creativity isn’t something that comes naturally. Therefore, when composing these investment columns I often rely on some techniques I’ve learned from listening to the professionals. Among these …
Hybrid ARMs give an investor both features What’s your choice for the term of the decade so far (that is, other than COVID)? In the last three years, a number of expressions have come into fashion, some of which have been worn out, used out of context and deemed by linguists to be a …
Some suggestions on how to wrap up 2022 The word “rally” can be used for a number of purposes and in different contexts. For instance, it could mean a long-distance auto race over varying surfaces and involving stages and checkpoints. It could mean a gathering of supporters to generate enthusiasm and momentum for an …
Availability of discount bonds causes a rethink of strategies I’ve learned a few things about human nature as it relates to bond portfolio management over the years. Some of these notions or biases in the minds of investors are more logical than others. For example, it seems community bankers take some pride in …
Up with People, which readers of a certain age may remember, was an organization that had a run of popularity in the 1970s and ‘80s by promoting wholesome values and positive thinking. Its delivery channel was through song and dance performances, often in large arenas and stadiums. Up with People provided the halftime entertainment for …
Up with Coupons: Larger interest payments can build a floor under your bond prices Read More »
The Great Escape: The bond market braces for the Fed’s wind-down of its balance sheet. If bond investors (you) were running low on things to worry about for the rest of the year, I’ve got some terrific news: The $9 trillion portfolio owned by our central bank will begin to shrink. Soon. And at …
The Great Escape: The bond market braces for the Fed’s wind-down of its balance sheet. Read More »
Low yield spreads send community banks back to the basics I’ll let you in on a secret: sometimes your columnist runs out of new ideas to cover. A dearth of new products, no new regs, a stable rate environment—All of these can cause a writer to run aground while sailing the financial seas in …
Maybe the U.S. economy has improved to the point where further quantitative easing isn’t as critical to the Federal Reserve’s policy of “accommodation.” It certainly looks like the Fed has some further work to do on the portion of its mandate that relates to price stability, given the overshoot of its inflation goals. Fed Chairman …
Fed Taper Tactics: A review of past QE wind-down strategies. Read More »
If there’s a constant in the world of a community bank investment manager, it’s disappointment. If you buy a bond today and yields go down tomorrow, you wish you’d have bought more; if yields go up, you wish you had bought none. If your overall portfolio has unrealized gains, you lament the poor yields that …
Portfolios morph: Investment securities have undergone big changes this year. Read More »
And now for something completely different. Except it’s not; it just hasn’t been around for a number of years. But it most assuredly has an impact on your community bank’s bond portfolio and on the securities you’ll be thinking about purchasing the next time you’re in the market. I’m speaking once again about the ever-popular …
Slippery slope: Another yield curve shift has community bankers guessing. Read More »
Barret School of Banking • 650 East Parkway South, Memphis, TN 38104
Phone: (901) 321-4000 • barret@barretbanking.org