The European Central Bank (ECB) decided on July 20th to maintain its extraordinary monetary stimulus with no change in policy interest rates. ECB President Mario Draghi’s remarks reassured markets that the eventual move towards normalization of rates and the ECB’s balance sheet will not be made…

Jeff Uscher’s Japan Insider is one of my daily reads and regularly delivers insights I value and rely upon. Jeff has generously given me permission to share with you his research on why overall wages in Japan are stagnant despite a compelling labor shortage and thus why, despite the best efforts…

"Since the Great Recession, which is now 8 years old, we've been growing at 1.5 to 2 percent in spite of stupidity and political gridlock, because the American business sector is powerful and strong. What I'm saying is it would be much stronger growth had we made intelligent decisions and were…

Over the past 12 months, as of July 6th, the Japanese equity market  outperformed. The TOPIX index  increased 31.1% and the NKY 225 30.5%. These figures compare with increases of 14.8% for the S&P 500, 19.35% for the STOXX Europe 600, and in Asia, 22.4% for the MSCI AC Asia Pacific…

The minutes of the FOMC’s June meeting are especially interesting this time. Not for because of what the FOMC said about raising its policy rate this time, but rather because of the insights that the minutes provide regarding participants’ widely divergent views on the policy path going forward…

In her quarterly missive, Cumberland’s Patty Healy offered a terrific summary of credit conditions in the US muni market. Here’s that commentary:cumber.com/2q-2017-municipal-credit. John Mousseau furthered a dissection of the subject on Asset TV.

We received many replies after we published my commentary “America’s Birthday” (cumber.com/americas-birthday/). A sampling of readers’ responses follows, and then we will turn to the implications of the First Amendment for markets.

The majority agreed with us and offered “well done” or “…

We closely follow the bond insurers because they remain an important part of the municipal market, and they are integral to our Insured Puerto Rico Strategy.

Cumberland exited all uninsured Puerto Rico exposure in 2011, as it was clear that population loss and economic circumstances…

Our International ETF strategy analyzes fiscal and interest-rate policy and complements that research with trading analytics to determine portfolio risk/reward and valuations. The strategy has the benefit of flexibility to assign allocations by market cap size and developed vs. emerging markets…

It’s America’s birthday. Hot dogs and fireworks. Burgers and beer. Gatherings. A lightness is in the air from Key West to Presque Isle, from Pasadena to Juneau. We have good reason (our freedom) for that lifting of spirits.

Let’s celebrate, but let’s also be serious for a moment.