1. Hyre Weekly Commentary
June 11, 2012
Add another country to the European bailout list.
Over the weekend, Spain requested up to $125 billion in bailout money to shore up its ailing
banks, according to Bloomberg. Spain’s banks and the country’s economy are reeling from the
bursting of a massive property bubble. Things are so bad in Spain that the country is back in
recession and nearly 25 percent of the country’s workers are unemployed, according to The Wall
Street Journal.
Spain matters because it’s the fourth largest economy in the euro zone and if it goes bust, it may
create chaos in euro land.
Fortunately, if all goes according to plan, the new bailout money may be enough to reassure
investors that Spain won’t go the way of Greece. Speaking of Greece, the next big event in the
ongoing euro zone debt crisis takes place this coming Sunday when Greece holds a new election.
Depending on who wins, it could lead to “Grexit”—which means Greece leaving the euro. There
is no precedent for a country leaving the euro so if it happens with Greece, we’re in unchartered
territory.
Back in the states, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke last week and said, “The situation in
Europe poses significant risks to the U.S. financial system and economy and must be monitored
closely.” He went on to say, “The Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to
protect the U.S. financial system and economy in the event that financial stresses escalate.”
While he didn’t announce another round of quantitative easing, the markets were somewhat
reassured that he might pull the trigger if the economy gets much worse.
And let’s not forget China. They just announced a surprise interest rate cut which “raised
concerns over the state of the economy,” according to MarketWatch.
So here we are again, monitoring the situation in Europe, worrying about a hard landing in
China, and analyzing whether the Federal Reserve will ride to the rescue and print more dollars.
It keeps our job very interesting!
2. 1- 1- 3- 5- 10-
Data as of 6/8/12 Week Y-T-D Year Year Year Year
Standard & Poor's 500 (Domestic 3.7% 5.4% 4.3% 12.2% -2.5% 2.6%
Stocks)
DJ Global ex US (Foreign Stocks) 2.0 -3.4 -20.2 2.9 -7.3 4.0
10-year Treasury Note (Yield Only) 1.6 N/A 3.0 3.9 5.1 5.0
Gold (per ounce) -1.8 0.1 2.5 18.7 19.2 17.2
DJ-UBS Commodity Index 1.6 -8.5 -22.5 0.8 -5.4 3.0
DJ Equity All REIT TR Index 4.5 10.4 8.9 26.9 0.6 10.2
Notes: S&P 500, DJ Global ex US, Gold, DJ-UBS Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested
dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are
annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT TR Index does include reinvested dividends and the three-,
five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at
the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron’s, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be
invested into directly. N/A means not applicable.
SOMETHING HAPPENED ON NOVEMBER 18, 2008 THAT HADN’T HAPPENED IN
50 YEARS—what was it and what are the implications for your portfolio?
Before we get to the answer, we need a brief review of history. Up until 1958, the dividend yield
on common stocks was higher than the yield on bonds. This seemed to make sense because
stocks were generally riskier than bonds and in order to entice investors to buy stocks, they had
to be incented with a higher yield. But in 1958, that flipped. Stock prices rose, the dividend yield
fell and the yield on bonds became higher than stocks. For the next 50 years, this relationship
remained as bonds continued to out-yield stocks.
Then, on November 18, 2008, the relationship reversed as stocks delivered a higher dividend
yield than bonds. This was just a brief flirtation and the relationship flipped again shortly
thereafter and bonds resumed their usual higher-yielding status.
Now, with the dramatic decline in bond yields, stocks are doing that rare thing and delivering a
higher yield than bonds, according to the Financial Times.
Here are several thoughts on the implications of stocks yielding more than bonds.
(1) Investors are more risk averse. With bond yields extremely low, this suggests
investors are more concerned about safety than double-digit returns.
(2) Bond prices are at an extreme level. With 10-year Treasury yields having recently
touched an all-time record low, there may not be much room for them to go lower—
since 0 percent is the floor.
(3) Government intervention may be distorting the normal relationship between bonds
and stocks. Heavy bond buying by the Federal Reserve could be artificially depressing
bond yields and rendering some of the traditional market relationships moot.
3. (4) Investor psychology may change over time. Prior to 1958, investors wanted a higher
yield from stocks because stocks were riskier. Then, over the next 50 years, bonds had a
higher yield as investors became comfortable with the idea that stocks offered a yield
plus a chance for capital appreciation—even with more volatility. And now, we’re back
to risk averse investors seeking higher yields from stocks.
Sources: Financial Times, BusinessWeek
From an investment standpoint, seeing a major change in a long-term trend like the yield
relationship between bonds and stocks suggests we may be at an extreme level in bonds and
stocks. And while nobody knows how long it may take for this relationship to return to a more
traditional level, we’ll try to find ways to profit from it on your behalf.
Weekly Focus – Think About It…
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow
in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the
summer.”
--F. Scott Fitzgerald, author
Best regards,
Jim Hyre, CFP®
Registered Principal
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Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC.
* The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be representative of the stock market in
general.
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a price-weighted index of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks.
* The NASDAQ Composite Index is an unmanaged, market-weighted index of all over-the-counter common stocks traded on the
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System.
* Gold represents the London afternoon gold price fix as reported by www.usagold.com.
* The DJ/AIG Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark for the commodity futures market. The
Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
* The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public. Since the U.S. Government is seen
as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury Note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market.
* The DJ Equity All REIT TR Index measures the total return performance of the equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment
Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by Dow Jones
* Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between two specific periods.
* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future
performance.
* Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.
* You cannot invest directly in an index.
* Past performance does not guarantee future results. mc101507
* Some newsletter content was prepared by PEAK for use by James Hyre, CFP®, registered principal
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Registered Principal
Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.
Member FINRA/SIPC
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