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Results 151–163 of 163 found.

Profit expectations in the square root recovery
by Robert McConnaughey of Columbia Management, 7/27/11
They always say that in the media, if it bleeds, it leads. Crisis and tragedy is gripping stuff, and there has been plenty to report in the financial press in recent years. Perhaps under-reported and less-celebrated has been the truly remarkable recovery of profits at American businesses in the wake of the Great Recession. Reacting to the pain of the downturn, corporate America did a remarkable job of tightening its cost belt. As a result, the rather modest recovery in economic growth has driven huge profit gains, as margins have leapt back to historical peaks.

USA, Inc. ? If it were a stock, would it be a buy, hold or sell?
by Harvey Liu and Guy Pope of Columbia Management, 6/30/11
By 2025, spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest expense will equal the total revenue (tax receipts) of the United States. Remember, it is currently 2011 and so this is only 14 years away. This should make it pretty clear where the highway leads. This speaks louder than fuzzy debt-to-GDP statistics that inevitably lead one to wonder where exactly the tipping point is. Cuts and revenue generating initiatives will need to be made soon. How else will we pay for other government services?

What?s ahead for home prices? Searching for a bottom
by Marie Schofield of Columbia Management, 6/27/11
At a financial analysts meeting in early 2008, I was asked when we would know the financial crisis was truly over. At that point we had no clue. It had only just begun. Many experts believed it would worsen before any improvement would be seen. It was a timely and pertinent question. My own belief was to look to where it started. I responded that I felt it would end when home prices stopped falling. As I reflect on the past three years, I am still of that opinion. We will continue to feel the effects of the financial crisis via the burden of falling home prices for some time to come.

The ?Great Recalibration?
by Team of Columbia Management, 6/21/11
Investors who have participated in the municipal market over the last several years are keenly aware of the volatility that the market has experienced. Increased market volatility has resulted from the reaction to subprime exposure; downgrades and eventual disappearance of monoline insurers; the exit of hedge funds and arbitragers from the municipal market; fiscal strains on state governments; and changes in demand dynamics with the intro and eventual elimination of Build America Bonds. As each of these issues came to bear, they were often the subject of sensational headlines.

Has the hour of the dividend stock arrived?
by Team of Columbia Management, 6/7/11
Surveying the present financial landscape-what are investors? options? Bonds have been enjoying historic popularity. But they are at market highs and come with return and income potential inherently capped by their coupons. Turning to Treasuries, the price-to-yield is particularly unattractive. Then there?s the specter of interest rate risk. The steep rebound of equities off the crisis bottom ended with the arrival of 2010, and double-digit returns for many formerly cheap stocks went with it. Following a period of volatility, we appear to have settled into the slow-growth stage.

An Investment in Infrastructure
by Team of Columbia Management, 6/1/11
Neglecting infrastructure can have tragic consequences. Think about the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis, levees breaking in Missouri or the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion. These and many other examples illustrate the type of destruction that can occur if the country?s aging infrastructure is not addressed. At the same time, demand for new infrastructure is growing exponentially in emerging markets. Data highlighting the scale of construction, transport, logistics and communications development are so large they render relevant context difficult to comprehend.

Floating rate: Hedging the interest rate risk in your fixed-income portfolio
by Team of Columbia Management, 5/18/11
Following the Great Recession of 2008, many investors aggressively moved to cash and fixed-income securities in a classic flight to safety. In early 2009, we could point to a historic opportunity to capture significant total return. Much of that correction has already occurred and valuations across the fixed-income market have largely recovered. At this juncture in the business cycle, credit risk has declined dramatically, as evidenced by defaults that are running below long-term averages, robust new issuance and demand for bonds, and healthy corporate balance sheets and earnings.

Financial markets don?t worry about government shutdowns ? It?s when they come back we worry!
by Colin Moore of Columbia Management, 4/8/11
We examine the implications for the broad economy, financial markets and state and local budgets of a federal government shutdown. The probability of a ?shutdown? this weekend is growing. There appears to have been little real progress in negotiations over the last few days. If anything, the debate about the current crisis has ballooned into an even greater battle about the size of and role of government. It is relatively easy to agree on a target $33 billion or $40 billion of expenditure cuts, it is MUCH more difficult to identify exactly which programs should be cut to meet that target.

Small-/Mid-Cap Growth ? Why Today?s Market Cycle is Different
by Team of Columbia Management, 3/31/11
We believe the outlook for small- and mid-cap growth stocks remains bright as we move into the later stages of the economic recovery. While the asset class is typically expected to underperform at this point of an economic rebound, there are three important distinctions that make this cycle different: 1) scarcity of growth, 2) continued M&A activity and 3) commodities inflation.

Stock picking is dead? Long live stock picking
by Robert McConnaughey of Columbia Management, 3/10/11
A recent frontpage story in The Wall Street Journal was titled ?Macro Forces in Market Confound Stock Pickers.? The article quoted a prominent Wall Street strategist as saying, ?Stock picking is a dead art form.? The article is now prominently displayed on my office bulletin board as I believe it (and similar articles and research notes) marks a high in skepticism regarding active investing. I also believe these sentiments will be proven dramatically wrong in the months and years to come, as certain active investors take advantage of the inefficiencies that this very skepticism is causing.

The Secular Case for Convertible Securities
by David King of Columbia Management, 2/24/11
The most common question from potential investors in convertible mutual funds goes something like this: ?Is now a good time to get into convertibles?? The question is sincere and seems very relevant. The usual answer is: ?It?s a pretty good time.? In the end, the usual result of this usual exchange is that most investors think about convertibles for a moment, and take no action. Behind any timing question about convertibles is the assumption that equities and traditional fixed income instruments are the core of a good portfolio and everything else is alternative.

Local Municipal Credit Quality Dissected
by Chad Farrington of Columbia Management, 2/15/11
While we believe there will likely be more credit pressure and some defaults at the local level, including counties, cities, towns and school districts, we don?t believe there are systemic risks in the market that will cause widespread defaults. Most municipalities are making the tough choices to either raise taxes and fees and/or cut expenses to ensure debt service obligations are paid on time and in full. Moreover, ultimate recovery of full principal in the event of default is viewed as very likely.

Seeking Equity Dividends: Now More than Ever
by Robert McConnaughey of Columbia Management, 2/4/11
The evidence is clear that dividends have been a crucial part of total returns through history and that dividend payers (particularly sustainable dividend growers) have significantly outperformed their non-dividend-paying peers over the long haul. Couple those higher returns with the lower volatility that comes with the dividend-paying class vs. broader equity markets and it makes a clear case for the power of dividends.
Results 151–163 of 163 found.