MEDIA

Ethan Penner, founder and managing partner at Mosaic Real Estate Investors, discusses the rules of investing in a market dislocation and how those rules have changed, how long this market dislocation may last and how to find attractive returns in a dislocated market environment.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the Republican Presidential debate in 2008 when the moderator asked the candidates what they would do to “run the economy.” Senator McCain, the front-runner and eventual nominee gave a response typical for career politicians about how he would do this or that.

There our powerful forces that influence how we think about things, and these forces often create and use terminology to advance their objectives. In the field of finance/investments this is certainly the case.

That was one of my Granny’s favorite teachings. Granny wasn’t a wealthy woman or one who fancied expensive things, but she had a great clarity about the world. Observing today’s institutional investment industry, it seems as though many participants never got Granny’s message.

This week I read an article about a company that offers personal loans to folks who are seriously down and out. One of their strategies involves mailing checks for $2,000 to these people’s homes and if the check is cashed it activates a loan agreement that calls…

The heavily anticipated correction finally arrived and somehow it caught everyone by surprise. As is the case in any correction, the market seems fraught with panic and confusion. “How low will it go?” What is the cause? These are the questions being asked broadly…

In the midst of the financial crisis in late 2008 I recall feeling like things in the world would never again be the same. I remember wondering if the money printing called Quantitative Easing by the Federal Reserve Bank would cause even the average working person…

Since I graduated college nearly 35 years ago the yield on the 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond has declined from near 16% to today’s 2%-2.5% trading range level. This tells an important story. The massive decline in yields on all financial instruments during this period…

As a fund manager I find myself speaking to investors nearly daily.  This gives me a unique insight into the thought patterns of investors, what they value, what they fear, and their predilections. Not surprisingly, investors get very excited very easily, and often…