We are privileged to invite readers to a serious debate and discussion. Recently we published two pieces in which we tried to describe markets in terms of metaphors. We thank readers for their many thoughtful responses.

In the second “metaphor” piece we incorporated three charts prepared…

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) achieved a landslide victory in the snap election held Sunday, assuring that his ruling coalition retains its two-thirds majority in Japan’s lower house. It also makes it very likely that Abe will be selected next year to continue…

We thank readers for their gracious comments on our markets and metaphors missive (http://www.cumber.com/market-history-and-metaphors/), examining historical periods that “rhyme” in one way or another with the circumstances we find ourselves in today.

Three levels are apparent in the wonderfully crafted movie Tulip Fever, in which the impeccably cast Judi Dench is both abbess (mother superior) and tulip-speculating vault keeper. The film is a cinematic lesson about trading momentum and human emotions overtaking investment reasoning.

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“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes,” Mark Twain supposedly once observed. As the Fed begins to shrink its balance sheet even as it determinedly jacks up interest rates, we would be prudent to consider where history has rhymed before and what we might learn from those instances…

The global economic recovery is strengthening and becoming more synchronized, according to updated projections for 2017 and 2018 by both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). China, the world’s second largest economy, is an…

Whirlwind is an understatement.

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 in allocation by market cap size and developed vs. emerging markets.

With Cumberland’s quarter-end publishing cycle coming to conclusion, we will use this missive to deliver a bullet aimed at the Jones Act. (Readers may have noted that we try to have most of our folks offer comments at the end of each quarter, which is why there has been a flurry of missives.)

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria laid waste to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. As we sit in Cumberland’s offices in Sarasota, Florida, we watch a humanitarian crisis unfold. Millions are without power, internet, cellular service, and clean drinking water. The process of rebuilding will be…