(New York)

Safe 5% yields sound very enticing right now don’t they? Well, they are actually not as hard to find as you think if you take a broader perspective. That perspective is to look at standard municipal bonds and examine their real-world yields, or how they compare to taxable bonds. For instance, for a couple living in California with a $250k per year income, a municipal bond yielding 3.0% is equivalent to a taxable bond yielding a whopping 5.8%. This is because of the new tax system brought in by Republicans. One muni expert comments that “I would argue that munis are more attractive than they’ve ever been because, with the loss of various deductions, including SALT, one’s taxable income is higher than it’s ever been”.

FINSUM: This is a very good insight and one to which HNW individuals and advisors need to pay attention. Once investors really come around to this, it could spark a muni bond run.

(New York)

One of the key story lines that has been driving global equities gains over the last year and a half is that economic growth has finally returned to all corners of the world. Yet just as that story was becoming very believable, it is starting to fade. Global benchmarks for measuring growth have fallen undeniably since January, especially in Europe, and inflation is cooling in developed economies, both signs that the boom in expansion might have come to an end. Everything from shipping costs to copper prices have fallen as demand has waned.

FINSUM: Are we headed towards a global recession? It is always hard to forecast, but it seems as though we may be.

(Washington)

Donald Trump’s lawyer, none other than former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani, said on the record very recently that Trump has the power to pardon himself. Despite that power, though, Giuliani says Trump likely won’t do so as it would probably lead to immediate impeachment. The statement falls in line with Trump’s argument that he cannot be charged with obstruction of justice because “he could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired” (quote form Trump’s legal team) based on the far-reaching pardoning powers of the US presidency.

FINSUM: From a legal perspective this is a quite an interesting question. But given the obvious political perils involved in exercising this theoretical power, we suspect this might be a moot point (but maybe not).

(New York)

US Treasuries took a nose dive last week on fears over Italy. They fell from well over 3.1% to well under 2.9% very quickly. However, don’t get used to those levels. The reason why is that the underlying economy is fundamentally solid, with wages and jobs strong, growth solid, and corporate tax cuts likely to give a boost. The Fed also seems likely to continue hiking, even if only slowly.

FINSUM: All these reasons aside, our own view is that yields were on a solidly rising path until the Italy issue. Since we seen that as only a temporary problem (for global markets), we suspect bond investors will regain their views.

(New York)

It might be a great time to buy gold, or at least that is what one of the top gold funds on the street is saying. VanEck International Investors Gold fund, which has routinely outperformed peers, says Gold is finally likely to break out its narrow trading range. Gold suffered a terrible bear market from 2011 to 2015, and prices are low and there is little selling pressure. This, coupled with heightened geopolitical risk and inflation, mean that gold seems likely to find a catalyst for strong performance.

FINSUM: We do agree that prices are low and there is little selling pressure, but there have been plenty of other times there were geopolitical catalysts, so it is hard for us to get behind that notion.