Lord Abbet's Milton Ezrati examines the situation in Greece and its membership within the Euro. "German politicians seem to have lost patience with Athens. Blustering about throwing good money after bad, they have shown a new eagerness to throw Greece out of the currency union, at least a rhetorical one. They are not alone. Similar sentiments have surfaced in Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, even in Estonia. Understandable as such talk is, an expulsion of Greece is not so easy as these naysayers seem to believe, and would almost surely cost the eurozone more than further accommodation would, a lot more. On the assumption that politics will follow at least vague cost-benefit calculations, likelihoods, then, suggest that Europe, for all the tough talk, will find a way to keep Greece in the currency union." Get Free Research Reports about Lord Abbett Company Llc [+] Read More

Lord Abbett's Milton Ezrati looks to the municipal markets and examines a few of the positives taking shape. "State and local government finances remain precarious. The degree of trouble varies from place to place, of course, but generally it will take decades for states and cities to put their finances in anything like good order. It is, in fact, a good bet that no middle-aged person today will live to see such an event. One wag has suggested that the yet unborn will not live to see such a day. But if such cynicism carries truth, the immediate outlook can nonetheless anticipate some modest relief, at least enough to ease some of the strains under which state and local governments have labored and enough to improve investment performance in the area as well as on the overall economic picture." Get Free Research Reports about Lord Abbett Company Llc [+] Read More

The on-going debate around President Obama’s health care plan will surely continue for some time as it is slowly implemented over several years. And with this implementation come a number of taxes that are scheduled begin at certain points down the road. We thought we’d share an info-graphic that displays these taxes, when they are scheduled to kick in and how much expected revenue will be generated for each one. Click here to see this comprehensive chart. Be sure to check out our August newsletter “2013 Tax Changes - Actions to Consider” where we review several questions to consider given the upcoming potential tax changes in 2013. You can also speak with one of our Wealth Strategists now at (800) 541-7774 to discuss your portfolio and review your holdings. Source: Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office [+] Read More

Louis Navellier takes a look at the market distractions, productivity in the US and the rise in commodities. "Don't look now, but the S&P 500 rose each day last week and each of the last five weeks. However, I see a mixed market in individual stocks. Some winners are consolidating, while many beaten-down stocks are firming up. Stocks exhibiting the most relative strength are primarily the high-dividend stocks and those providing higher sales guidance, but as the second-quarter earnings announcement season draws to a close, we could see a sideways market on low volume while traders take their late-August hiatus." Download Full Commmentary Here Get Free Research Reports about Navellier & Associates, Inc. [+] Read More

"As it has for the past several years, the crisis in Europe continues to dominate the World Press. It continues to be a ping pong match of bad news followed by hope followed by bad news and so on. As we have stated, we believe the real crisis is not that the banks in Europe are going to go bust, but rather that Europe will become a "house divided" and the European Union will fail. It appears Central Banks and Eurozone countries have ample funds to save the failing Euro banks, but it also appears likely the end result of this crisis will be the European Union of Countries falling apart as they find it impossible to come to a mutual agreement." Download Churchill’s Full Commentary Here Get Free Research Reports about Churchill Management Group [+] Read More

BlackRock explains the Euro crisis in their recent report on Europe and answers many questions about it that investors have today. "Europe's crisis is accelerating and the next month looks critical. Greece is running out of money fast and local politics are in disarray. Banks are reeling from ratings downgrades, asset write-downs and fragile funding. Global markets again are held hostage by the Eurozone's turmoil. This is a short- and long-term crisis. Today's is all about funding while tomorrow's is about structural reform, finding the right mix of spending cuts and growth, and - most difficult of all - giving up sovereignty." Download Full Commmentary Here Get Free Research Reports about Blackrock Inc [+] Read More

Avatar Associates' May commentary reviews their portfolios and takes a look at the effects of continued low interest rates. "The Fed is certainly aware of the problem of low interest rates for lenders. Outside the Fed (and likely within it) this is referred to as a policy of interest rate "repression." Historically, we have not had to be as concerned about this problem because, obviously, interest rates have never been this low. But we think the challenge today has become as serious for the Fed as its concern about borrowing costs. It represents another element that is stirring under the surface of monetary policy choices. As we have argued in the past, there will come a time when the Fed will probably have to declare an end to the "emergency." That will result in some sort of "normalization" of monetary policy which, in turn, will have mixed consequences. Higher rates will hurt borrowers and maybe business activity. But higher rates will also signify that the economy is strong once more. For lenders, their interest income will rise and that will have some positive consequences. Unfortunately, as well, the flip side is that bond prices will decline with those higher interest rates. So the asset value of the bond holdings will depreciate." Click here to read the full Avatar Associates report. Get Free Research Reports about Avatar Associates [+] Read More

Chief Investment Officer of equities at Federated Investors, Stephen Auth, examines the sovereign debt situation in Italy and the chances of Italy defaulting. "It's one thing if Greece were to default (though that's looking less likely); it's entirely another if the euro-zone’s third-largest economy struggles to pay up. The worry is that nearly $260 billion of Italy's sovereign debt rolls over this year, with a significant chunk coming due next month. If investor appetite for Italian debt doesn't hold up, Italian bond yields may spike, Spain may follow and the risk-off trade is back on with a vengeance. We think this sort of thinking is misguided." Download Full Commmentary Here Get Free Research Reports about Federated Investors Inc [+] Read More

Money manager ClearBridge advisors notified clients on December 1st, 2011 of CEO Peter Sundman's departure. Part of the reason behind the departure is cost, although other details were not available. Any material impact on the investment teams at ClearBridge seems unlikely as the investment teams and Chief Investment Officer remain in place. The position will not be filled with a replacement and instead the CEO responsibilities will be consolidated with those of ClearBridge President Terrence Murphy. Murphy served as the Chief Operating Officer at ClearBridge since 2006 and was promoted to President in 2011. Prior to his work at ClearBridge, he was part of the Citigroup Asset Management team holding positions as director of planning and analysis and chief financial officer. Source: Morningstar Advisors [+] Read More