Can bonds keep beating stocks?
After a terrible couple of months for shareholders, lenders are feeling smug
Diversification, goes an adage attributed to the late Harry Markowitz, is the only free lunch in investing. The idea later helped him win a Nobel prize for economics. Markowitz’s genius was to realise that a portfolio spread across lots of assets could have the same potential for returns as a more concentrated one, but with less scope for losses. In other words, diversification allows investors to take less risk without sacrificing reward—quite some freebie.
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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The last shall be first”
Finance & economics September 14th 2024
- Can anything spark Europe’s economy back to life?
- Norway’s weak currency presents a mystery
- Strangely, America’s companies will soon face higher interest rates
- Can bonds keep beating stocks?
- China’s government is surprisingly redistributive
- The IMF has a protest problem
- Why orange juice has never been more expensive
- An American sovereign-wealth fund is a risky idea
From the September 14th 2024 edition
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Germany’s economy goes from bad to worse
Things may look brighter next year, but the relief will be short-lived
An economics Nobel for work on why nations succeed and fail
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson tackled the most important question of all
Why investors should still avoid Chinese stocks
The debate about “uninvestibility” obscures something important
China’s property crisis claims more victims: companies
Unsold homes are contributing to a balance-sheet recession
Europe’s green trade restrictions are infuriating poor countries
Only the poorest can expect help to cushion the blow
How America learned to love tariffs
Protectionism hasn’t been this respectable for decades