The Cumberland Advisors Week in Review is a recap of news, commentary, and opinion from our team.
These are not revised assessments, and circumstances may have changed in the market from the time of original publication. We also include older commentaries that our editors have determined may be of interest to our audience. Your feedback is always welcome.
CUMBERLAND ADVISORS' WEEKLY RECAP
As part of Cumberland Advisors' continuous effort to maintain strong customer relationships, we offer this week's short video discussing current market conditions and how we are positioning portfolios.
John Mousseau & Fixed Income / Munis
-Bond Market- yields came down this week, a flattening of the yield curve
-Why?
--COVID cases up outweighing good vaccine news
--Stimulus bill looks to be coming sooner rather than later, but still no progress
--Jobless claims number higher than expected
--Inflation benign .CPI where expected.
-Munis? Not down as much as Treasuries, about 1-3bps across the board.
-In the muni world, we're seeing big demand for BBB bonds. Investors want the higher yield and want to stay in investment grade munis, which BBB are. They want their cake and to eat it too!
-This is a good time to look at credit quality and upgrade credit within bond portfolios
-Things are looking to quiet down as we head to year's end
Matt McAleer & Equities / ETFs
-Fairly quiet week, DOW & S&P off about 1%
-Small caps continued with their bid
-In our US Equity strategy, it has benefited from the bid in small/mid
-In our Tactical strategy, we're still overweight Large cap
-We often talk about diversification among securities, but you also want to be diversified in your strategies. Matt explains with an example with financials/banks.
-Complimentary strategies work to achieve our goals of "what are we trying to accomplish", "where do we want to go", and "how do we get there"
-We cover these things all the time with existing and prospective clients
-One strategy alone doesn't tend to achieve everything we want
-Matt McAleer & Cumberland Advisors
Send your feedback from today's email/video to Matt. You can reach him at:
-Link to Matt's Email: Matthew.McAleer@Cumber.com
-Link to Matt's Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattMcAleer4
-Link to Matt's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-c-mcaleer/
-Call Matt: (800) 257-7013Other questions or comments? Email us at info@cumber.com or give us a call at (800) 257-7013.
Contact Matt or any one of our advisors by following this link: https://www.cumber.com/our-people/
David R. Kotok mentioned in "University of South Florida to launch new COVID-19 training program for nurses as cases climb"
By: Larissa Scott - abcactionnews.com
Posted Dec 08, 2020
Excerpt below:
TAMPA — The University of South Florida is launching a new COVID-19 training program for nurses.
The school received a $57,000 donation from Sarasota businessman David Kotok that will allow USF to produce and implement an education program directed for frontline nurses.
It will consist of webinars and podcasts that will provide nurses caring for COVID-19 patients with resources and education to help them safely do their jobs during the pandemic.
Read the full story & watch the video segment here: https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/coronavirus/university-of-south-florida-to-launch-new-covid-19-training-program-for-nurses-as-cases-climb

Cumberland Advisors Market Commentary offers insights and analysis on upcoming, important economic issues that potentially impact global financial markets. Our team shares their thinking on global economic developments, market news and other factors that often influence investment opportunities and strategies. Our readers appreciate its timeliness, depth of analysis, and quality of research.
Read current and past commentaries here: https://www.cumber.com/category/market-commentary/
Siesta, Longboat, COVID, Masks & More
Author: David R. Kotok, Post Date: December 11, 2020
Sarasota-based, Cumberland champions mask wearing and other COVID-prevention measures. We also champion business. We believe that Florida’s economics are better served with basic prevention measures in place. We would not lock down everything. We would require basic civic responsibilities, such as mask wearing in a deadly pandemic. The principle is the same as permitting or […]
Chris Whalen on GSEs
Author: David R. Kotok, Post Date: December 8, 2020
Several folks have asked us about the status of the GSEs under the Biden regime. Some may be invested in some of the troubled securities issued by GSEs. Some argue that the US Treasury Secretary can rectify the problem without the help of Congress. We do not agree. We do not expect any help for […]
Jobs – As Yearend Approaches
Author: Robert Eisenbeis, Ph.D., Post Date: December 7, 2020
On Friday we got the last look at how the economy is performing, jobs-wise, before the end of the year. On the positive side, the economy did create 245,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.7 percent. We note that critics argue the estimate is too low due to problems within […]
A Twinkle for Sunday
Author: David R. Kotok, Post Date: December 6, 2020
“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” existed first as a poem. Written by Jane Taylor and first published in 1806, it was titled simply “The Star.” It was not until 1838 that “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” appeared in print as a song, in a collection called The Singing Master: First Class Tune Book, paired with the tune […]
Interest Rates and Yield Curve Control, Part 4
Author: David R. Kotok, Post Date: December 4, 2020
In Part 4 of our series on interest rates and yield curve control, we will examine two charts and two related tables to help explain yield curve control and implications for the Treasurys market. The first three parts are available here: Part 1, https://www.cumber.com/cumberland-advisors-market-commentary-interest-rates-and-yield-curve-control-part-1/ Part 2, https://www.cumber.com/cumberland-advisors-market-commentary-interest-rates-and-yield-curve-control-part-2/ Part 3, https://www.cumber.com/cumberland-advisors-market-commentary-interest-rates-and-yield-curve-control-part-3/. The first chart and table […]
The Cumberland State of Despair Index
Author: John R. Mousseau, CFA & Patricia Healy, CFA & Tom Patterson, Post Date: December 3, 2020
The Cumberland State of Despair Index tries to capture the despair caused by unemployment brought on by the pandemic and COVID-19 infection rates on a state-by-state basis. This State of Despair Index will be applied as a variable in our credit-scoring model.
Decision Time for the UK and Europe
Author: William Witherell, Ph.D., Post Date: December 2, 2020
Time is running out for the UK and Europe to reach an agreement on the terms under which the UK will leave the European Union (EU) at year end. Also, the member countries of the European Union have yet to reach final agreement on a much-needed, massive additional fiscal stimulus package. The substance and timing […]
Not As It Seems
Author: Robert Eisenbeis, Ph.D., Post Date: December 1, 2020
On November 19, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board requesting a 90-day extension of several Fed programs to provide liquidity to financial markets, including the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, the Money Market Liquidity Facility, and the Paycheck Protection Liquidity Facility. Those programs were backstopped by […]
Fed’s Path; also Why Barbell, Not Ladder
Author: David R. Kotok, Post Date: November 30, 2020
ESG Investing, Arctic Ice & Derek Riley (story at the end)
Author: David R. Kotok, Post Date: November 29, 2020
We expect the new Biden administration to reverse on a massive scale Trump’s deregulation of energy and to turn strongly to sustainable-energy policy. The implications for investing in ESG are huge. Cumberland holds positions in wind, solar and water and we expect to hold those positions for a long cycle of growth. Markets are already […]
Fed Vacancies – the Dilemma As of 11/23/2020
Author: Robert Eisenbeis, Ph.D., Post Date: November 23, 2020
As the Biden administration begins to float the names of potential cabinet members, an interesting scenario and potential dilemma faces the Federal Reserve Board. Normally, there are seven members of the Federal Reserve Board, but at present there are only five, with two vacant positions. One vacancy has existed since March 2014 when Sarah Bloom […]
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Cumberland Advisors Market Commentaries offer insights and analysis on upcoming, important economic issues that potentially impact global financial markets. Our team shares their thinking on global economic developments, market news and other factors that often influence investment opportunities and strategies.