Position Update Toews remains fully defensive across all asset classes.i  Additionally, certain equity-containing strategies hold aggregate bond positions, which have appreciated over the past month, even as stock prices have fallen. Markets fall and Uncertainty Spikes In New York City, where part of our team is located, the beginning reactions to COVID-19 are abundant.  Companies, including our own, have issued

As equity and high yield bond markets decline in the face of a potential global pandemic created by the coronavirus, advisors and investors may be faced with the real prospect of a potential dramatic economic event that has already affected China and may be exported to the rest of the globe. We’re writing this to discuss Toews strategies in the

In our last quarterly commentary, we discussed how difficult predicting recessions is, even for professionals. That was the case for the fourth quarter as markets and the economy stretched higher despite an inverted yield curve1, a lower September U.S. Manufacturing Purchase Managers Index2, and a drop in Consumer Sentiment in August3. Why? In our view, markets advanced because the Federal

Data continues to suggest that the U.S Economy is slowing. The September U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index showed its lowest reading in 10 years at 47.8%i, as exports dived amid an escalating trade war. Consumers are also now expressing concern about the trade conflict. The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers showed in September that a near-record number of consumers

The second quarter began with gains following a strong first quarter. Markets turned lower in May in response to deteriorating economic indicators and rising interest rates. Our strategies became defensivei in response to our algorithms while the S&P 500 Index fell as much as 7% into the end of May.ii In June, as messaging from the Federal Reserve (Fed) indicated