As more advisors embrace social media, Sue chats with an early adopter, Cathy Curtis, founder of Curtis Financial Planning, to learn best practices for advisors and how social media may be changing the advisor-client relationship.
Swimming with Black Swans: The Volatile Decade Ahead
So long smooth sailing. Russ Koesterich explains why he expects the rest of this decade to be characterized by more market volatility and why seemingly out-of-the-ordinary Black Swan events could become more frequent
After the EU Summit a Host of Unresolved Questions
Last week’s European summit went better than it might have, according to Russ, but it fell far short of solving the region’s structural issues. Here he outlines the big questions facing the European Union and why the region’s crisis will drag on.
The Coming Oil Supply Gap
Prices at the gas pump are falling and slow global growth is expected to keep oil prices down in the near term. But Russ has a handy new chart showing why he expects crude prices to rebound in the longer term: global oil demand is likely to greatly outstrip supply by 2030.
Limits to Arbitrage and the Case for Minimum Volatility
No matter the strength of historical observation, Daniel Morillo is often asked by clients whether minimum volatility portfolios can continue to perform as they have in the past. In this blog, he explains how an interesting argument around what is known as “limits to arbitrage” helps to make the case for minimum volatility portfolios.
Don’t Listen to Thiel: Stay in School
PayPal co-founder and Stanford-educated Peter Thiel claims that a college degree isn’t worth the cost so he’s paying potential future entrepreneurs to leave school. Sue strongly disagrees with Thiel’s encouragement of dropping out and offers five reasons why.
Nowhere to Hide? Consider “Semi-Safe” Havens
Many investors concerned about a worsening European crisis and a stalling recovery are searching for investments that tend to hold value. But these traditional “flight-to-safety” destinations have high opportunity costs. Russ explains why investors may consider instead a group of investments with higher risk that might still generate yield.
Listen Up Class of 2012: Here’s How to Find a Job
At colleges across the country, the graduating class of 2012 is receiving a slew of advice from famous comedians, playwrights and politicians. But the commencement addresses contain mostly moving messages about living life to the fullest rather than practical job-hunting advice. Sue fills in the gap.
A Lesson in Minimum Volatility Gleaned at the Horse Races
At the upcoming Belmont Stakes horse race, I’ll Have Another will attempt to become the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown. While Daniel Morillo is not a huge fan of horse racing, he explains what the event can teach us about investor behavior and how it applies to minimum volatility portfolios.
The Best of the Blog
The iShares blog and social media presence have been earning recognition of late. See what all the fuss is about with this roundup of popular blog posts.
