CMG AdvisorCentral

Tactical investing news, views and resources for financial advisors

Blumenthal Appears on Fox Business News

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On March 20, 2017, CMG CEO and CIO Steve Blumenthal appeared on Fox Business News’ “Countdown to the Closing Bell with Liz Claman.”  Ashley Webster filled in for Liz Claman.  Ashley pointed to Amazon and Google and the great moves they’ve had – a recent proof statement that all is well.  We humans are herd beings.  Steve’s suggestion was if you do nothing else, put a 200-day moving average stop-loss on everything you own.  Here’s the clip:

The Trump rally has been amazing.  The equity market trend remains bullish.  Risk remains elevated as we sit at the second most expensively priced market in history and the Fed is raising, not lowering, interest rates.  We’re cautious.

CMG’s Total Portfolio Solution Whitepaper Free Download

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CMG Capital Management Group AdvisorCentral Total Portfolio Solution WhitepaperIn this whitepaper, we describe a total portfolio solution—a comprehensive approach to building resilient investment portfolios for individual investors.

Modern portfolio theory (MPT) tell us it is possible to construct optimal portfolios offering the maximum possible expected return for a given level of risk. We believe it is important to emphasize that risk is an inherent part of higher reward. You can’t get something for nothing, the saying goes. The price for higher returns is greater risk. However, we believe investors can mitigate risk by sticking to a common-sense discipline.

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CMG Adopts GIPS Standards Verified By Ashland Partners

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CMG Capital Management GroupCMG Capital Management Group, Inc. has adopted Global Investment Performance Standards (“GIPS”) for investment performance calculation and reporting. CMG has chosen Ashland Partners & Company LLP to verify its GIPS policies and procedures.

“With all of the discussion regarding fiduciary standards, we believe it is only a matter of time before the GIPS® standard is adopted industry-wide,” said CMG President, PJ Grzywacz.

“The verification process is very robust. We didn’t want to just implement GIPS policies and procedures – we wanted to be verified by the industry leader, Ashland,” said Andrew Elkin, CMG’s COO and Chair of the firm’s GIPS committee.

Third party verification brings additional credibility to a firm’s claim of compliance and requires robust review of performance composites and thorough testing of policies by the independent party. CMG chose Ashland Partners, an industry leader with eight offices worldwide, for verification because of their long history as a GIPS service provider. Since its founding in 1992, Ashland’s sole focus has been on providing GIPS compliance and verification services to the investment management industry.

See the full press release.

(GIPS® is a registered trademark owned by CFA Institute)

Building A Hunker Down ETF Portfolio – Blumenthal at Barron’s

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Steve Blumenthal, CEO, CMG Capital Management Group, speaking with Barron's Funds reporter Chris Dieterich about ETF StrategistsSteve Blumenthal, CEO of CMG Capital Management Group, tells Barron’s funds writer Chris Dieterich that his firm has been clinging to ultra-safe bonds and utility stocks during the market storm. The video segment How to Build A Hunker Down ETF Portfolio, can also be seen below. An excerpt:

“We are what is called an ETF Strategist. We design and build portfolios for specific reasons. ETFs are a great tool because they offer so many ways to have concentrated exposures to markets on a low fee basis.

“Most of the leadership we see now is in fixed income. When we look at our portfolio we’re looking at relative strength. We’re looking to compare different ETFs against each other.”

Inside ETFs Wrap Up

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Steve Blumenthal at "Gold For Tomorrow" Panel, Inside ETFs

Steve Blumenthal at “Gold For Tomorrow” Panel, Inside ETFs

We had a great time at Inside ETFs in Hollywood, Florida from Sunday – Wednesday this week. The conference gets bigger and better every year as the $2 trillion ETF industry continues to grow. More than 2,000 people heard some of the brightest minds in finance talk about the markets, investing and the ETF industry.

This year, CMG Capital Management Group CEO Steve Blumenthal was on the “Gold For Tomorrow” panel. Blumenthal discussed A Gold Metric to Gauge Buy/Sell Opportunities and commented that “Gold moves when there is a loss in confidence in government leadership and the central bank.”

Blumenthal also breaks down the highlights of the conference, including presentations from Jeremy Siegel, Jeffrey Gundlach, and John Mauldin in this weeks On My Radar: The Last Bull Standing. Below, highlights of the conference from Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg.

End of Growth Cycle Likely, Blumenthal Tells WSJ

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Ask Not (Only) How China Slowdown Affects U.S.; Ask How U.S. Affects China
by Leslie Josephs

The Wall Street JournalConcerns about China’s slowing economy may be top of mind for investors, but issues plaguing US companies have a role. Wal-Mart, which sources some goods from China, is planning to close 2% of its stores while suppliers of smartphone components in Asia have warned about a demand slowdown.

“It’s all interconnected,” says Steve Blumenthal, CEO of CMG Capital. “From Wal-Mart to the supply chain [of] Apple, it’s a signal that we’re likely at the end of this growth cycle and headed into a recession.”

Wal-Mart falls 1.2%, while Apple’s off 3.4%. S&P 500 is down 2.4%.

See Wall Street Journal MoneyBeat story

Blumenthal in WSJ on Valuations And Forward Returns

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The Wall Street JournalCMG Capital Management Group CEO Steve Blumenthal analyzes stock valuations and projected forward returns of the U.S. equity market for a column in The Wall Street Journal. Excerpt:

“Valuation metrics can tell us a lot about probable forward returns,” says Mr. Blumenthal. The table helps drive home the point that buying stocks when they are reasonably priced relative to company earnings increases the odds of decent long-term returns. By contrast, historically when the P/E ratio was at a high level, the index didn’t perform well over the next 10 years, he says.

See the full story in The Wall Street Journal: Aha! How Stock Valuations Can Shape Long-Term Returns.