Author: CLS Investments
505 posts written by CLS Investments
CLS Investment Themes For 2013
January 8, 2013
CLS has developed key investment themes for 2013, let’s identify them and take a look at some of the ways these can be implemented. Below I offer some ‘resolutions’ to get the ball rolling in the New Year. Theme: Creative Diversification Be More Active – One of the more popular trends in new ETF’s lately has…
Skill vs. Luck
January 2, 2013
My car broke down over the weekend. As I lost feeling in my toes and smoke billowed out from underneath my hood, I immediately assumed that the problem had something to do with the repairs performed nearly a month ago by individuals who will remain nameless. Not surprisingly I felt a bit of righteous indignation…
Harvesting Tax Losses
December 31, 2012
This year, more than ever, has brought the unrealized tax sheet under the microscope, and at CLS we have been actively harvesting tax losses in our portfolios. If Congress doesn’t pass new legislation, short and long term capital gains taxes are set to increase, therefore we are gleaning any capital losses and gains within our…
Bear Facts
December 27, 2012
Did you know that a Bear Market actually existed outside the minds of doom and gloom CNBC analysts? The history behind the stock market term Bear Market can be traced back to the underlying animal (not so for Bull Market). Back in the day, London “jobbers” used to trade bear skins. A “jobber” was the…
If U.S. Markets Are Struggling, I’ll Take More Of It
December 24, 2012
The other day I was listening to Bloomberg and I heard discussions about the struggles that the U.S. markets have experienced this year due to fiscal policy and the Eurozone mess, and how it should now be worried about geopolitical concerns. I’m curious just what they mean by “struggle.” In reality, the market is getting…
Hey, Remember Europe?
December 21, 2012
Lately, attention has obviously been all about the you-know-what, yet somewhat behind the scenes, on the other side of the Atlantic, deals are being dealt. For months upon months now, the Eurozone finance leaders have been battling to put in place strict austerity measures in troubled economies to stop wasteful spending and actually collect some…
Retirement Planning Action Steps for Advisors
December 17, 2012
Retirement planning is a major focus for most financial advisors. Every generation needs to give it serious consideration, and develop a concrete plan that they can stay disciplined to. BlackRock offers five points of advice to financial professionals in order to help clients achieve their retirement goals. 1) Offer role models: Instead of just talking…
Thoughts on the “Fiscal Bluff”
December 14, 2012
Is the “Fiscal Bluff” the same as Y2K? In 1999, Y2K was a massive concern to investors, but turned out to be over-rated and the markets continued to move higher. The “Fiscal Bluff” could mean a worst-case scenario of $600B in lost spending, which some believe will crush the economy. Sort of like how…
Agriculture: An Essential Asset
December 13, 2012
Last week, I wrote about the essential asset class of energy. This week, I want to highlight another essential asset class that has been a solid long-term investment and a significant export driver for the U.S. economy: agriculture. U.S. agriculture exports have grown over 50 percent in the last three years alone as we attempt…
Retail Spending Indicates Consumer Optimism
December 12, 2012
If you believe everything you hear, then your anxiety must be through the roof right now knowing that the “Fiscal Cliff” is going to send our economy into another recession, the debt ceiling is going to crush our credit ratings with Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, and then of course the world is going to…