MHP Asset Management Financial Blog

So far, since the beginning of this year, the 10-year Treasury note yield has dropped below 1% creating a lowering of mortgage rates and loan rates in general. So that would be good, right? Well, if you are buying or refinancing a home or even getting a car loan this is good. But if you […]

In the world of investment management, the word used to describe growth in a portfolio, typically a short-term one, is Alpha. The definition of Alpha in one of my investment management books is the abnormal rate of return on securities in excess of what would be predicted by an equilibrium model.

Lately, it seems as though many new clients that I meet with have the same worries. That worry is that they do not have enough money to retire when they want, and that their lifestyle will entail quite a bit less than what they have now. Eating cat food and living in a tar-paper shack […]

I suppose we have all heard the phrase” black swan event”, which is a metaphor to describe an event that comes as a surprise and has a major effect. Black Swan is derived from the Latin expression coined in the 16th-century when the thinking was that there were no black swans, only white. But in […]

When I say “Off the Grid” most people probably think of independence from the electric company via solar or the ability to have a self- sustainable food supply with a garden or raising livestock. In other words just living like people did many years ago detached from power companies, grocery stores or town sewer and […]

When you hear the phrase “risky investments”, things like penny stocks, futures contracts, option contracts or junk bonds likely come to mind. But those investments or whatever you want to call them are typically used for speculation or as it used to be called “taking a flier” knowing your odds of success are not great. […]

Couple of weeks back, I was speaking about little-known fees inside mutual funds. This cash left inside of mutual funds is not for tactical purposes but for mutual fund outflows. This cash creates “cash drag” that adds to the overall expense of mutual funds. As an advisor who manages money and would never use an […]

More times than not, assessing a potential new client portfolio, I see a mix of mutual and exchange traded funds. Some of these are managed mutual funds that carry a high expense and some low-cost exchange traded funds, typically to cover the bond allocation. The question to my potential new client is rhetorical in the […]

I first heard it referred to as “socially responsible” investing, then it became “impact investing” or “green” and several other ways that I want to refer to as “principled investing”. Speaking with many investors gives me insight as to what their objectives are when investing their money. Often times they come in my office with […]

The global equity and debt markets continue to rise, and fall based on the news of the day around Covid-19 and oil. Like many readers, I listen to the news and watch the briefings in the afternoon regarding information of how this global pandemic is affecting our day-to-day lives, our economy, our physical and emotional […]

So far, we are a few weeks into a market correction that has swept across all asset classes including stocks, bonds, metals, real estate and really anything that is bought and sold. When fear hits the marketplace, most investors want to sell and move to cash. This is very understandable when you see that relatively […]

March 9th, 2020 marked the 11th anniversary of the bull market that has ended. Just like I have written about in the past, everything regarding the economy and the markets seemed to be full steam ahead. But just like October 1987 the decline sort of blindsided everyone. The fear in the markets feels a lot […]

March 9th, 2009 was the beginning of an 11-year bull market in stocks. On that day, I was sitting in front of my computer in my office, at the time in Conway, New Hampshire. There was panic in the markets, the S and P 500 index hit 667, before turning up that day. That was […]

The equity markets had gotten ahead of themselves over the last couple of months. What I mean is that while the overall economy was still in good shape, the stock market was trading above its expected average growth. So, picture a left to right ascending line that represents the expected growth of the S and […]

I recently had client who is bringing more money into his account. This money was already earmarked for equities(stocks) in his portfolio because his fixed income portion, in other words his “bonds,” is already providing income and working fine. He is aware that the equity market is pricey, and I tend to not want to […]

Why does risk matter? The risk that I am referring to is investment risk made up primarily of market risk when dealing with equities or stocks, and interest rate risk as well as credit risk when dealing with bonds or fixed income. Concepts that I’ve expressed in previous articles, are dealing with quantifying risk and […]

There are certain times that I will invoke the use of a fixed index annuity, or indexed universal life policy that have certain crediting strategies that appear too good to be true. The indexed annuity, or indexed universal life may be beneficial in certain portfolios for a portion of the overall strategy. If a client […]

The process of reviewing a client’s existing 401k, 403b, or other retirement plan that they have accumulated during their working time, has revealed some commonality as far as allocations between stock and bond funds. Most clients tell me that they had heard that they should have some bond funds for safety and that they really […]

Many of my new clients are people who have managed their own money in the past, but they seem to reach a point in their lives that compels them to make a change. Sometimes they tell me that it’s just not fun anymore, or that they do not want to spend the time required to […]

There’s been a lot of recent economic data that shows the US economy is slowing. Whether we go into a recession or just a broad slowdown is yet to be seen, however it makes sense to plan for either. What I am referring to buy plan is not a liquidation of your investment portfolio, however […]

The process of reviewing a client’s existing 401k, 403b or other retirement plans that they have accumulated during their working time, has revealed some commonality as far as allocations between stock and bond funds. Most clients tell me that they had heard that they should have some bond funds for safety and that they really […]

Whether you use a financial planner, advisor or do it yourself; planning your financial future involves a plan, strategy and tactics to get you where you need to go. So let’s take a moment to think about the difference between these strategies and tactics to maybe reflect on what you have or have not done […]

There are times when the use of options are a means of acquiring a stock or Exchange traded fund at a discounted price to the current market price. I will explain a method that I often use for specific investment portfolios. If you plan to use options you should read and understand the options risk […]

Whenever we invest our money in any kind of investment vehicle such as, stocks, bonds, real estate or commodities, we typically have an expected return plugged into our brains based typically on past performance. I can relate to you about my early years as a stockbroker in the middle 90s. If I had municipal bonds […]

Couple of weeks back, I was speaking about little-known fees inside mutual funds. This cash left inside of mutual funds is not for tactical purposes but for mutual fund outflows. This cash creates “cash drag” that adds to the overall expense of mutual funds. As an advisor who manages money and would never use an […]

So now retail brokerage is trying to capitalize on a concept that many advisors like myself have been talking about for years. Having been a retail broker many years ago, we were taught in some instances how to accumulate assets and grow them. The firm I worked for did not pressure me to sell product […]

On numerous occasions, I have mentioned that I do not care for bond funds and would much prefer to ladder a bond portfolio to the client’s needs and wants. Bond funds are perpetual, which means they really have no maturity date, much like preferred or dividend paying stock. The problem with not having a maturity […]

There is often-ignored asset potentially worth 1 million dollars that many of us have or will have access to, but we may give little thought to planning for this asset only to realize a minimal portion. Roughly 74% of the time this asset is cut to a minimum because we did not do any research […]

Couple of weeks ago, I was listening to the financial channel on the radio in my car when the commentator said, “the markets have closed up, a record 13 days in a row, into record territory, the last time this happened was in 1987”. My ears perked up when I heard that statistic because I […]

There is a strategy that I would like to discuss that may sound very complicated and potentially have you stop reading this article, but resist that and stick with me because it may be a strategy that could more than double the yield on your dividend paying stocks. First off I’m not recommending the purchase […]

December 2nd 2001 through December 2nd 2011 is known as the lost decade to stock market investors. If you had invested $10,000 dollars in 2001 and did not take profits at any time when they may have been available during that period, you would have $10,000 dollars in 2011. I recall that period of time […]

Option contracts represent 100 shares of company stock, Exchange traded funds, or even commodity futures may have these options contracts available. There is a volatility index known as the “VIX”, that increases in value when there is volatility in the equity markets and decreases when there is complacency. Post-election the “VIX” has gone very low […]

If you have ever put money into a mutual fund and discovered that the proclamation of return did not line up with your real return of dollars, then there could be several reasons. The net return could be affected by the fees and commission charged by the fund that can vary between funds, fund companies […]

The phrase “Follow the money” typically means following the money that eventually leads to criminal activity. In this case what I mean is that currency valuation related to the US dollar usually drives our equity and debt markets inverse to the direction of the dollar. For instance, as the dollar strengthens interest rates typically rise, […]

Recently I’ve read a few articles that predict how the markets will react after the November presidential elections. March 9, 2009 was the capitulation day when the equity markets bounced off their lows and started their upward journey. The average time between major equity market corrections is 7 ½ years. Go back 7 ½ years […]