» Posted by Martin Weil on February 27, 2008

Image courtesy of Calculated Risk

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 22, 2008

Public views of the U.S. economy, already quite negative, have plummeted since January. Just 17% currently rate the nation's economy as excellent or good, down from 26% last month. The percentage of Americans rating the economy as "poor" has increased even more dramatically, from 28% to 45% in one month...

The public's ratings of the national economy now are nearly as poor as they were in early 1992.

From Pew Research

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 22, 2008

Many retirees will face the task of leaving their homes and moving into a form of retirement living at some stage in their lives. I have found remarkably few resources that address the emotional, let alone practical, issues for those individuals and family members confronted by this challenge. Now comes On The Road of Life by Bay Area author and senior housing counselor Donna Robbins. Recommended for seniors and their adult children, Robbins' book offers "simple and easy to understand information to help aging adults make the best choices for the rest of their lives."

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 17, 2008

An article on affordable overseas retirement at Marketwatch got me to thinking. As I have at least two clients seriously contemplating retirement abroad, I started doing some research on the topic.

For those interested in life abroad, there are numerous informational resources readily available on the internet. A place to start might be this 2008 Quality of Life rankings of more than 100 countries. My brief search so far turned up the following interesting looking informational sites: International Living and EscapeArtist.

The Marketwatch article cites lower costs of living (not too surprisingly, wealthier individuals are also found in this group), easier lifestyle and affordable healthcare as some of the major drivers of a growing trend.

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 12, 2008

It's that sad dawning when you realize the market is so much bigger than you are.

Mark Fishman on the failure of his $2 billion hedge fund, Sailfish, in the NY Times.

Sailfish was another hedge fund touting its managers' ability to earn excess returns with lower risk and volatility. More hedge fund failures are expected according to the article.

At a recent industry conference, one hedge fund manager, in an overview entitled "2008 and Beyond," was asked what his strategy was for 2008. "To get to, 'and beyond.' "

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 11, 2008

Before you can say "Barack Obama is president of the United States," the economy will be growing faster again.

That forecast is based on the rise in the five-year Treasury yield from its lowest level relative to two- and 10- year notes since 2001. The last two times that happened was during the recessions of 1990 and 2001, and the economy began to expand within nine months.

"We're actually starting to see tell-tale signs by the market that it expects the economy to be in recovery in six to nine months," said James Caron, head of U.S. interest-rate strategy in New York at Morgan Stanley.

From Bloomberg

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 11, 2008

If you get speeding tickets, watch out: The chances are good that you will also engage in possibly dangerous investing behavior, too. That is the implication of a new study that found that individuals who receive more speeding tickets tend to churn their portfolios...They found that, other things being equal, an investor's portfolio turnover rate rose 11 percent after each additional speeding ticket he received.

So says a new study profiled in the NY Times

» Posted by Martin Weil on February 06, 2008

Shrugging off concerns about hygiene and Mexico's brutal drug war, thousands of Americans are heading to Ciudad Juarez and other Mexican border cities for cheap dental treatment....

A dental crown in the United States costs upward of $600 per tooth, compared to $190 or less in Mexico.

This excerpt from a Reuters article discusses the trend of Americans seeking offshore medical procedures that we first noted in 2006.