Author Archives: Scalper1

5 Best-Rated T. Rowe Price Mutual Funds For High Returns

T. Rowe Price is a renowned publicly owned investment management firm, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The company was founded in 1937 by Thomas Rowe Price, Jr. The company manages assets worth $725.5 billion (as of September 30, 2015). It prides itself in having more than 5,000 employees across the world. The company offers a full range of investment planning and guidance tools. It also offers mutual funds, subadvisory services, retirement plans and separate account management for individual clients. Below, we share with you 5 top-rated T. Rowe Price mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and we expect the fund to outperform its peers in the future. T. Rowe Price Financial Services (MUTF: PRISX ) seeks both capital growth and current income. The majority of its assets are invested in companies in the financial services sector. PRISX may also purchase securities of companies with significant linkages to the sector. The T. Rowe Price Financial Services fund returned 7.9% in the last one year. As of September 2015, this T. Rowe Price mutual fund held 87 issues, with 4.41% of its total assets invested in Citigroup Inc. T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth (MUTF: RPMGX ) maintains a diversified portfolio by investing a large chunk of its assets in companies having market capitalizations similar to those listed in the S&P MidCap 400 Index or the Russell Midcap Growth Index. RPMGX invests in companies having above-average growth potential. Though RPMGX focuses on acquiring common stocks of domestic companies, it may also invest in companies located outside the U.S. The T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth fund has returned 12.6% over the past one year. RPMGX has an expense ratio of 0.77% as compared to a category average of 1.28%. T. Rowe Price Global Technology (MUTF: PRGTX ) invests the majority of its assets in companies which expect to derive a large proportion of their revenues from the development and application of technology. PRGTX generally invests in at least 5 countries and allocates 25% of its investments to stocks of companies located outside the U.S. The T. Rowe Price Global Technology fund has returned 21.8% over the past one year. Joshua K. Spencer is the fund manager and has managed PRGTX since 2012. T. Rowe Price International Discovery (MUTF: PRIDX ) seeks capital growth over the long term. PRIDX invests a large share of its assets in foreign companies and purchases stocks issued from both mature and emerging markets. PRIDX focuses on investing in small and mid-cap companies. The T. Rowe Price International Discovery fund has returned 8.9% over the past one year. PRIDX has an expense ratio of 1.21% as compared to a category average of 1.53%. T. Rowe Price Health Sciences (MUTF: PRHSX ) invests a major portion of its assets in common stocks of companies whose primary operations are related to health sciences. PRHSX focuses on investing in large and mid-cap firms. PRHSX may also invest in non-U.S. securities. The T. Rowe Price Health Sciences fund returned 16.7% over the last one-year period. Taymour R. Tamaddon is the fund manager and has managed PRHSX since 2013. Original Post

2 Investing Implications Of Higher U.S. Rates

Real U.S. rates have been climbing, while rates are falling in much of the rest of the world. As Russ explains, this divergence has a number of implications for investors. sergey nivens / Shutterstoc While U.S. economic data continue to come in mixed, the numbers still point to decent U.S. economic growth . That, along with some evidence of stabilization in international markets, has pushed the odds of a December interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) higher. As a result, real U.S. rates have been climbing. As I write in my latest weekly commentary, ” Digesting the Implications of Higher Rates,” I expect the rise in long-term rates in the U.S. will be contained , given several factors, including demographic trends and institutional demand for long-term, high-quality bonds. But the fact that U.S. rates, both long and short term, are rising while rates are falling in much of the rest of the world has a number of implications for investors. 1. The dollar will continue to strengthen, keeping pressure on precious metals. Over the past six weeks, while U.S. rates have risen, rates have declined in Germany, Italy and Japan, according to data accessible via Bloomberg. Looking forward, we will likely continue to see a divergence between U.S. and international short-term rates as central banks in these regions maintain easy money while the Fed tightens. This rate divergence helps explain the renewed strength in the U.S. dollar, which last week reached its highest level since the spring, as Bloomberg data show. The combination of a strong dollar and rising real rates is having a predictable effect on precious metals prices. The simultaneous rise in real and nominal rates reflects the fact that inflation is contained and that puts downward pressure on the price of precious metals (since they are viewed as an inflation hedge, but provide no income, they consequently become less attractive). This time is no different, with gold and silver trading back down toward their summer lows, below $1,100 per ounce for gold, according to Bloomberg data. Given this environment, I remain cautious on precious metals. Still, having a hedge against inflation in a portfolio is a sound strategy, and I prefer Treasury Inflation Protected Securities in that role. 2. A stronger dollar supports the case for hedged currency exposure in international stocks. I continue to like international developed markets , such as Europe and Japan. However, a strong dollar can erode the local gains made in international stocks. As such, given my expectation for further dollar appreciation, I believe investors should use vehicles that hedge most or all of their international currency exposure. This post originally appeared on the BlackRock Blog.