By Jack Forehand, CFA The Price/Book has probably been the most important valuation ratio of the past century. If you look at the academic research that supports value investing, you won’t…
Berkshire’s Big Weakness Revealed in Crisis
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway “has always defied neat categorization,” but his quiet market response to the recent crisis has “fueled questions about what shareholders actually get when they invest in…
Survey Says Negative Returns Expected by 41% of Retail Investors
A recent survey of U.S. investors reflects a climate of “confusion and disconnect,” with retail investors feeling “both bullish and bearish about the future of the stock market and whether…
The Stock Market Is Not Trusted by Institutional Investors
A survey of 100 institutional investors conducted last week (the II Fear Index poll) showed that 65 percent believe the long-term impacts of Covid-19 have not been sufficiently factored into…
Rekenthaler on When to Buy Stocks Directly
In a recent Morningstar article, columnist and veteran fund researcher John Rekenthaler argued that novice investors should avoid the direct purchase of equities until they become “sufficiently educated.” Here are…
Excess Returns, Ep. 30: The Pros and Cons of Quantitative and Discretionary Investing
We all have a tendency to believe that the way we invest is the best way. As quantitative investors, we can sometimes feel that there is no reason anyone should…
Record Number of Fund Managers Say Stocks are Overvalued
A recent survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch shows that a record number of 78% respondents believe equities are overvalued following their rebound from the March…
Austria’s 100-Year Bond at Less Than 1%
Austria’s recent return to the century-bond club with a 2 billion-euro ($2.3 billion) debt issue is a clear example of how the European Central Bank is encouraging greater risk taking,…
Void Left by Dearth of Buybacks Filled by Robinhood Traders
The decline in stock repurchases by U.S. companies is being partially offset by demand from retail investors, according to a recent article in Bloomberg. According to client note from Goldman…
Quants Find the Missing Piece
New research has found that the implementation methods related to some factor-based investing strategies is the culprit for underperformance, and that “a simple formula can solve it.” This according to…