US

Where’s the Economy Heading?

Although the current slowdown has thus far been more moderate than other postwar slowdowns, further weakening could precipitate unusually harsh consequences.

U.S. Buyouts Investing

This report examines the recent market environment for buyout investing using the following criteria: fund raising and commitments, financing, valuations, and exit opportunities. Exhibits cover capital commitments, LBOs, M&As, and returns to limited partners of private equity firms.

Deflation in Japan–Could it Happen in the U.S.?

According to a recently issued Federal Reserve paper, Japan could have averted deflation if it had aggressively applied monetary and fiscal stimulus during the first half of the 1990s. This Comment provides highlights of the paper, the commentary it elicited among financial pundits, as well as our thoughts about its policy recommendations if they were…

U.S. Convertible Securities Investing

Does the hybrid equity-debt structure of convertibles add real value or simply create unneeded complexity? Topics discussed include the economic basis for returns, market composition, valuations, convertibles’ role in policy portfolios, and benchmarking issues.

Asset Allocation in a Bear Market

This paper speculates that while some of the excess from the equity bubble years has been worked off, the secular bottom will probably not arrive until valuations improve and despair reaches levels proportional to the preceding bull market euphoria.

Of Bubbles and Bears

If the unwinding of the recent bubble conforms to the typical pattern of past post-speculative periods, investors should be prepared for a long, hard slog.