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On August 19, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its July 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, which showed the Fed’s concern about China’s economic growth and market turmoil, as well as broader weakening in emerging market economies. The minutes also indicated the Fed’s view that a weakening global economy has ...

At a Daily Journal annual meeting in Los Angeles earlier this year, Charlie Munger – the 91-yearold Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway – shared his opinion on the investment landscape when asked about negative interest rates in Europe and persistently low rates in the United States:"This has basically never happened before in my w...

U.S. stock market activity has been unusually volatile in the last couple days, with the S&P falling roughly 3.2% Friday and 3.9% Monday before rebounding about 2% in early Tuesday trading.Lower-quality credit markets has also suffered while treasuries and high-grade debt have rallied. This market commentary discusses where the global market st...

Most market watchers seem to be missing the point about the Fed’s impending rate hike cycle. It’s not about the when, it’s about the how. For months the Federal Reserve has been expressing its desire to begin policy normalization by raising interest rates, moving away from the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) that has b...

With the ever-evolving nature of international tax, the non-U.S. resident or non-U.S. citizen with activities in the United States (referred to as “inbound” activities) and their U.S. advisors should become aware of fundamental, international tax principles to avoid the unintended application of U.S. tax. This guide serves as a res...

The positive supply shock to the economy created by the increase in U.S. oil production has policymakers reconsidering this country's four-decade-old oil ban on exports. From a pure economics standpoint, exporting domestically-produced oil would benefit both producers and consumers and increase overall efficiencies in the domestic energy market...

The phrase “private equity liquidity” once felt like an oxymoron, but the picture is rapidly changing.Liquidity has traditionally meant something very different for private equity than it has for other types of investments. While investors in other vehicles could trade their positions quarterly, monthly, or daily, those in closed-end pr...

As the autumn winds begin to gust in 2015, Jeremy Siegel’s disciples seem ubiquitous across the world of institutional investing. Allocations to equities are massive with the mentality being “of course we all know a correction is coming but I would rather suffer through a correction than miss the next leg up.” Eager to buy i...

In a year of notable financial developments, perhaps the most far-reaching and visible of this group is the sharp decline in oil prices in the second half of 2014. Crude has dropped more than 50% since June and is now trading below $50 per barrel. This precipitous decline stands in contrast to a prior four years of relative price stabil...

Chief Investment Officer David Donabedian recaps the first half of 2015 and provides an outlook for economic activity and financial markets in the third quarter of the year.

Market volatility can serve as a reminder of what investors can and can’t control. What is information, and what is noise? What is predictive of the future, and what is just the past? Long-term investors should focus on what they can control and stay the course – provided they are on the “best” course.The best course is the ...

Those who live in hurricane-prone regions know all too well that when August rolls around, along with end-of-season barbeques comes the possibility of inclement weather patterns. At this time each year, areas of the United States brace for potentially destructive storm systems. As we start the seventh year of a bull market, the calendar is signali...

With a significant number of private equity groups (PEGs) working to succeed in this market, it has become increasingly difficult to identify targets poised for significant growth based on financial analysis alone.Investment specialists have noticed that the leaders in this area are increasingly turning to niche analysis to single out businesses th...

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing recently on eight proposed tax agreements: tax treaties with Chile, Hungary and Poland, and protocols amending US tax treaties with Luxembourg, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for International T...

Last week, markets were caught on the wrong foot by the latest package of measures by the European Central Bank (ECB). There was no headline increase of monthly asset purchases, which are currently at EUR 60bn. Since then, investors have grown used to ECB President Mario Draghi over-delivering, earning him the nickname “Super Mario”. Wh...