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The Squeeze Is On

Squeeze FRED

As this chart shows, the yield continues to invert with 3-month Treasury Bill yields substantially higher than 10-year Treasury Note yields.

10-year treasury constant maturity minus 3-month treasury constant maturity 1986 - 2023

As I wrote about previously, Fed Chairman Jay Powell discounted traditional yield curve indicators such as the differential between 10s and 3-month T Bills and 10s and 2-year Treasury yields.

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Hiding in Plain Sight

Silicon Valley Bank Hiding in Plain Sight

Like many others, I have been looking for where cracks in the financial system might appear catalyzed by the aggressive Federal Reserve rate hiking policy and balance sheet contraction. And while the housing market has been an obvious sacrificial lamb via much higher mortgage rates,

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Be Indispensable!

Be Indispensable

Like many people who have had long careers and experienced the inevitable ups and downs that go with any long-term venture, I often reflexively respond to those asking for life-changing advice by telling them to do what you love. Actually, it’s more do what you’re passionate about,

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Bond Market Skepticism & Emerging Market Carnage

I couldn’t stay away from interest rates for too long. Last week was very fascinating. There was a lot of news that should have been quite bearish for long-term bonds but instead, yields moved down by about 5 basis points for the week for the 10-year Treasury note.

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Office Building Woahs

Office Building Woahs

2023 is already shaping up to be the year when the tsunami of office building defaults, foreclosures, and large losses for lenders and equity investors comes on with full force. Cracks have already appeared, and it is only going to get worse. The office building sector is impaired,

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Pedigree or Motivated Outsiders - Who Makes the Best Money Managers?

pedigree-or-motivativated outsiders

Carl Icahn has clearly done enormously well over the years in compounding capital through his highly aggressive, activist approach to investing. He is not shy about expressing his opinions, sometimes in a Trumpesque manner, to call out underperforming management teams, changes he thinks they should make to increase returns to shareholders and the performance of the business and to get more involved to either make changes and/or hold management teams more accountable.

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Managing Money Also Requires Managing People

Managing -People Albert Stein Gary Carmell Marcus Lam

As an investment management company, CWS’ investors naturally look to us to deliver compelling returns relative to the risk we are taking. Since the capital entrusted to us is deployed into businesses that we purchase (apartment communities) or create (the development of apartment communities),

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The Fix(ed)

Interest rate

I recently returned from the National Multifamily Housing Council conference in Las Vegas. I have been attending the conference since very early in my career, which makes me one of the pioneer attendees as the organization was fairly new then, and there were probably no more than 500 people at the conference in the early 1990s.

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And Yet

And Yet Labor Economy Government Bonds

Last week was pretty important in confirming the trend change in interest rates and solidifying a slowdown in economic activity. Evidence of the economy slowing is reflected in more U.S. firms cutting their earnings guidance versus raising them.

Number of US firms with corporate guidance announcements in 2022

As the above chart shows,

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No Need to Ever Fear Default, Only Inflation

Inflation-Default

There is so much concern about the level of our federal government debt and how will we ever repay it. That is one thing to never have to lose sleep over. The United States uses a currency (the dollar) that only it can produce, has no obligation to back its currency with anything other than its commitment to accept it to pay taxes that are owed,

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