Investing Research Articles

Has crude oil turned into paper from an investment perspective? In their May 2013 paper entitled “Oil Prices, Exchange Rates and Asset Prices”, Marcel Fratzscher, Daniel Schneider and Ine Van Robays examine relationships between crude oil price and behaviors of other asset classes. Specifically, they relate spot West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price to:… Keep Reading

Do currency exchange rates exhibit short-term momentum? In the April 2013 version of their paper entitled “Is There Momentum or Reversal in Weekly Currency Returns?”, Ahmad Raza, Ben Marshall and Nuttawat Visaltanachoti investigate whether exchange rate movements over the past one to four weeks persist over the next one to four weeks. They test these… Keep Reading

Do investors demand a risk premium for divided government because of the policy uncertainty of gridlock? In the April 2013 preliminary draft of their paper entitled “Divided Governments and Asset Prices”, Elvira Sojli and Wing Wah Tham„ investigate the effect of divided government on asset prices by comparing U.S. stock market performance in years of divided… Keep Reading

Can commodities still be useful for portfolio diversification, despite their recent poor aggregate return, high volatility and elevated return correlations with other asset classes? In the May 2013 version of their paper entitled “Strategic Allocation to Commodity Factor Premiums”, David Blitz and Wilma de Groot examine the performance and diversification power of the commodity market portfolio… Keep Reading

Does adding a proxy for private equity to a diversified portfolio improve its performance? To check, we add PowerShares Global Listed Private Equity (PSP) to the following mix of asset class proxies (the same used in “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy”): PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)iShares Russell… Keep Reading

A subscriber suggested testing the diversification power of SPDR Barclays International Real Estate (RWX) as a distinct asset class. To check, we add RWX to the following mix of asset class proxies (the same used in “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy”): PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)iShares Russell 1000… Keep Reading

Does adding a proxy for the currency carry trade among developed economies (long futures on three currencies with the highest interest rates and short futures on three currencies with the lowest interest rates) to a diversified portfolio improve its performance? To check, we add PowerShares DB G10 Currency Harvest (DBV) to the following mix of asset class proxies… Keep Reading

A subscriber suggested testing the diversification power of SPDR Barclays International Treasury Bonds (BWX) as a distinct asset class. To check, we add BWX to the following mix of asset class proxies (the same used in “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy”): PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)iShares Russell 1000… Keep Reading

It is plausible that high-yield corporate bonds have return characteristics substantially different from those of other asset classes, and therefore represent a good diversification opprotunity. To check, we add iShares iBoxx $ High-Yield Corporate Bond (HYG) to the following mix of asset class proxies (the same used in “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy”): PowerShares DB Commodity… Keep Reading

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), offering an explicit inflation hedge, may be an attractive asset for strategic diversification. To check, we add iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (TIP) to the following mix of asset class proxies (the same used in “Simple Asset Class ETF Momentum Strategy”): PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking (DBC)iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)SPDR… Keep Reading