WSJ: What Is Risk Parity?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

An investment strategy known as risk parity has drawn attention lately because of the lack of volatility in the stock market and what might happen when volatility reappears.

“A risk-parity portfolio tries to derive equal risk from all the asset classes it’s involved with,” says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. Read more here.

WSJ: Pakistan Status Grows In Indexes

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Pakistan has gotten a leg up from the indexing world and could get more attention from investors because of it.

In May, index provider MSCI Inc. decided to give Pakistan emerging-market status and added it to the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. MSCI had previously classified the country as a frontier market. Read more here.

Pakistan's Flag

Photo by Abuzar Xheikh on Unsplash

U.S. News: Defense Stocks Are Booming and Won't Slow Down

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Is it time to bail on defense stocks, or is there more upside to come?

The sector, which includes giant companies such as Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Raytheon Co. (ticker: RTN), and United Technologies Corp. (UTX), is on an impressive run, beating the broader market index by a factor of nearly 2-to-1 over the past 24 months. Read more here.

Forbes: Fowl Matters -- Will Britain Really Reject U.S. Trade Deal Over Chickens?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Did the British government just fowl up the chance of a trade deal with the U.S. before negotiations have even begun? Not to be a Chicken Little, but sure seems that way.

And it all started off so well just a few weeks ago. Read more here.

U.S. News: Low Volatility Worries Some Investors

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The so-called "fear gauge" is looking low and that has some investors concerned. The matter at hand is complacency, or not worrying enough about the risks of investing.

The CBOE volatility index, or VIX, is known colloquially as the fear gauge. It measures the price that investors are willing to pay to buy insurance against a drop in the broad stock market.

"It gives you an idea of how much people will pay up for that protection," says Russell Rhoads, director of education for CBOE’s Options Institute in Chicago. "The more concerned they are, the more it goes up in value." Read more here. 

Forbes: What We Can All Learn From An Art Forger

By SIMON CONSTABLE

At the best of times, the market for fine art and antiquities is murky, but even at its worst, it's nothing compared to the seedy underworld of forgeries.

The latter is the world which Shaun Greenhalgh illuminates in his book, A Forger's Tale, which was published last month. It's the story he wrote in prison after the 2007 conviction for crimes that he details in the book. In addition to the inner workings of the art world, there is something for business people to learn. Read more here.

U.S. News: Forecasting Recessions Can Boost Your Returns

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Does it make sense to change your investments if you see a recession coming? Possibly so, but you'll need some economics know-how.

The bottom line is fairly simple. If you can get your prediction of the beginning or end of an economic cycle correct, then it could boost your portfolio returns substantially, according to some recently published research. Read more here.