As we hurtle toward the inevitable showdown between President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney, the question is: will the economy rebound enough to keep the incumbent in the Oval Office or will the jobless recovery put the Republican candidate on top?
Senior Editor Lorie Konish put the question to Hans Olsen in this month's Five Questions. Olsen, head of Americas Investment Strategy at Barclays Wealth, concludes that the consumer will be one of the deciding factors. But you have to read all of his insights as to what advisors need to keep in mind for their clients during this presidential election year.
While the U.S. economy appears to be the only thing on the minds of voters, it's the global outlook that may have the biggest effect here. So this month we asked our resident international expert Milton Ezrati to weigh in on which parts of the planet are showing the most promise for investors. He offers his sweeping world view in "A Very Brief Tour of Global Investment Prospects."
We have even more to offer in our global package.
Our focus shifts as we go into more depth on that giant of the Far East with the help of writer Dave Lindorff. In "Finding the Safe Bet in China," Lindorff reports what he saw on his trip to Shanghai late last year. He then doubles back for the opinions of experts on the Chinese economy. Lindorff has a special affinity for China. He was a reporter there for five years between 1992 and 1997 for Business Week and is fluent in the language. He was also a Fulbright Scholar teaching journalism in Shanghai in the early 1990s.
This month, we also take a special look into the recent acquisition by Raymond James of Morgan Keegan through an interview with Tash Elwyn, the new and quite young president of Raymond James & Associates. He has spent his entire career at Raymond James, starting as a financial advisor and climbing up the corporate ladder. Now, just as he takes the reins of the employee channel, one of the firm's biggest purchases changes everything. So, read about Elwyn and what he has to say about this highly anticipated deal.
