The Battle to Reach the Pinnacle

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Content provided by Robyn Murray, Freelance Writer When Mark Matthews goes home for the holidays, there’s a routine. First, eat. Second, find the nearest basketball court. “We’re very competitive,” Matthews says, “everyone plays sports; everyone sings in the choir; everyone knows how to cook.” Home, for Matthews, is Detroit and a family of five sisters… Continue reading The Battle to Reach the Pinnacle

Three Thoughts On The Primary Season

Content provided by Scott Kubie, CFA, CLS Chief Strategist Now that primary season is in full swing, the politically interested among us can practice switching channels to see who is saying what, while reading FiveThirtyEight to dissect the polls. As the Iowa and New Hampshire caucus results rolled in, my thoughts moved to what this… Continue reading Three Thoughts On The Primary Season

The CLS Investment Team Goes To the Movies: The Big Short

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Content provided by Rusty Vanneman, CFA, Chief Investment Officer Recently, the CLS Investment Team went to the movies (after the markets closed, of course!). It’s a great time of year for high-quality movies, and our choice was the critically acclaimed, The Big Short. The movie is about the financial crisis that stemmed from the real… Continue reading The CLS Investment Team Goes To the Movies: The Big Short

Is It Really a Chinese Crisis?

Chinese Stock Market - Arrow Graph Going Down on Red Chinese Flag

Content provided by Paula Wieck, CLS Portfolio Manager The financial media has used some colorful language to describe China’s stock market this year. The words “turmoil,” “bloodbath,” “wreaking havoc,” and “ripples of panic” have shown up in quite a few headlines. But that might be slightly overstated. China is important; but it’s not everything. Why… Continue reading Is It Really a Chinese Crisis?

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DOL Prepares to Finalize Fiduciary Rule

Content provided by Mike Forker, CLS Chief Compliance Officer The Department of Labor (DOL) has finalized their proposed fiduciary rule, which would impose a fiduciary standard on all advice given to retirement plans and IRAs. This morning, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that they had received a final rule from the DOL titled… Continue reading DOL Prepares to Finalize Fiduciary Rule

2015: A Look Back At Income-Producing Strategies

Content provided by Case Eichenberger, CLS Client Portfolio Manager 2015 was no doubt a tough year for the stock market. In fact, the average investor lost about 3% for the year. While not even close to bear market territory, these are disappointing gains nonetheless. Of the major asset classes, only the S&P 500 had a… Continue reading 2015: A Look Back At Income-Producing Strategies

January’s Market Volatility

Tables with stock prices and charts symbolizing the ups and downs of the stock market.

Content provided by Case Eichenberger, CIMA, Client Portfolio Manager What’s scaring market participants today? Will this be known as the China scare of 2016? The oil crash of 2016? It’s always hard to blame market turmoil on one event, but slowing global growth is usually a culprit. When combined with slumping demand for oil/an overabundance of… Continue reading January’s Market Volatility

Large Caps vs. Small Caps Debate

Two piggy banks, one big and one small, on a bright blue background

Content provided by Paula Wieck, CLS Portfolio Manager At the start of 2015, some market pundits doubted the ability of large-cap stocks to outperform small caps due to the strengthening dollar. Typically, dollar strength bodes well for small-cap companies because they do much of their business locally. Larger companies tend to do more business across… Continue reading Large Caps vs. Small Caps Debate

The Key Principles to Managing Portfolio Risk

Content provided by Joe Smith, CFA, CLS Senior Market Strategist Volatility has gradually picked up this year. This should be no surprise to investors since we have seen exceptionally low volatility over the last few years. Volatility inevitably reverts back to historical trends and should be expected to rise as markets focus on company-specific fundamentals and… Continue reading The Key Principles to Managing Portfolio Risk