Searching For Yield:Bank Loans,Gold and IBM

We think ultimately rates are going to be heading higher,said Mark Kiesel,PIMCO CIO and co-manager of the firm's iconic income fund,the Total Return Fund.You're better off investing in bank loans at 4-5% yield.You're not going to get that with bonds today.It's also a sign of global disinflation.With bank loans,you're investing in a structure that protects you.MGM and Hilton are offering 4-5% on bank loans.
As of 9-26,we've outperformed about 90% internationally at the Total Return Fund.TIPS,or Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities,are very cheap,favouring international markets like Brazil and Mexico.We have a great story at Total Return Fund.
Morningstar Associates gives the Total Return Fund three out of four stars and considers it to be world class.
Bank loans in the form of mortgage-backed securities are commonly in the portfolios of income funds,including the Total Return Fund.*
Most of the damage done by the Swiss central bank,which of a sudden lifted a three-year-old cap on the Swiss franc, probably occurred in retail debts.I don't think there will be anything untoward that happened to US banks.I think it just causes greater disrespect for central banks generally,said Dennis Gartman,editor of The Gartman Letter.
I've been long gold and short euros,and that's been very beneficial.I see no reason to think that strong gold's going to change.The Swiss move is going to be detrimental to their currencies and strong to gold.*
IBM reported earnings per share of 5.81,in line with the estimate.Revenue was 24.11 billion,falling a bit short of the 24.77 billion estimate.Currency fluctuations and divestitures hurt their revenue.I think it's a step in the right direction,said Daniel Ives of FBR Capital Markets.Can this company succeed in the cloud?The outlook going forward is really the elephant in the room for investors.Given the playbook,it's about IBM giving investors comfort in the cloud transition.*
PIMCO Total Return Fund Class A(PTTAX),International Business Machines(IBM),Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF(GDX)

Energy Firms Reach Accords

Big players in the energy markets have been reaching deals this month.Both Royal Dutch Shell and Gazprom,the Russian natural gas titan,have signed on to buy about a million tons each of the Sakhalin-2 project's Liquefied Natural Gas.Sakhalin-2 is located in the Russian Far East.According to Gazprom,the contracts run from 2009 to 2028.At the same time,Gazprom will deliver another million tons of gas to Shell through pipelines to Europe,in exchange for access to Shell's Mexico re-gasification terminal at Costa Azul.This contract also runs for 20 years.

Foreign Ministers Meet

The three North American foreign ministers met at the State Department in Washington recently.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted foreign ministers Patricia Espinosa of Mexico and Maxime Bernier of Canada.The theme of their talks was prosperity and security.They were preparing for a summit of their heads of government in New Orleans.The three countries practice free trade with each other and cooperate on border security.Many Americans dislike free trade because they think it eliminates jobs,and feel that Mexico doesn't police its border sufficiently.