Blog Posts

In previous articles, we discussed that asset prices are a function of who’s buying and selling, the relative sizes of these buyers, and their motivations. Pension plan types affect pricing in markets, which in turn may have implications in your own trading and allocation decisions. This topic was covered in the following paper – Asset […]

Lots of people participate in markets – an estimated 62% of US adults (individual stocks, mutual funds, retirement accounts, etc.). But many people participate, but don’t participate in them in the way that fits their natural preferences. A recent paper – What Drives Investors’ Portfolio Choices? Separating Risk Preferences from Frictions – looked at this […]

What are Platinum Group Metals (PGMs)? How do you get ahold of them? Can you trade them? We cover all of this in this article.   Key Takeaways – Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) PGMs are six ultra-rare, chemically related metals, which are primarily used as industrial catalysts, not monetary metals or stores of value. Demand […]

Portfolio margin is a method of determining margin requirements that brokers use to evaluate the overall risk of a client’s portfolio. Unlike traditional margin accounts, which typically calculate requirements based solely on individual securities (e.g., Reg-T), portfolio margin accounts use a risk-based model. This approach looks at the entire portfolio’s potential for loss in varying […]

Closed-End Funds (CEFs) are a type of investment fund that pools money from investors to buy a diversified portfolio of assets, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, or other securities.  Unlike mutual funds or ETFs (exchange-traded funds), CEFs have a fixed number of shares issued at their initial public offering (IPO) and are traded on […]

Multi-asset leveraged ETFs are a way to diversify asset exposures while also taking on more risk – for ideally higher return. These are for traders looking for higher returns who don’t want to manage the exposures and trades themselves, while also having higher risk tolerance. They typically include equity futures, along with assets like bonds […]

Diversification is one of the most valuable things you can have as a trader or investor. It increases your ability to keep things chugging along without suffering unacceptable losses and underwater periods. Even if you buy a bunch of stocks, they mostly move up and down together. You can go into other things like bonds […]

We’re going to look at the highest SEC Yield ETFs on the market. Our criteria: At least 3 years of history. (The ETF space exploded in the mid-2020s and many funds have short histories where it’s hard to judge their performance.) SEC yield of at least 5% or so. We’ll start with the highest yields […]

In this article, we provide a framework of income-based alternatives to trading, with brief discussions of their cash-flow mechanics, skill intensity, and scalability.  This is geared toward those who want predictable income, lower variance than trading, or complementary/diversified streams that don’t rely on market whims.   Key Takeaways – Income-Based Alternatives to Trading Yield-based income […]

Factor investing is a strategy that focuses on selecting securities based on certain characteristics – known as factors – that have been proven to drive investment returns over time. They exist, and aren’t arbitraged out of market, because they represent a form of risk compensation, not inefficiencies built into markets (which tend to be discovered […]