Investment guru Marc Faber calls Treasuries junk bonds. Best-selling Black Swan author Nassim Taleb says, “It’s a no brainer, every single human should short US Treasury bonds.”  And there is a new expression among traders on Wall Street these days, “anything but Treasury bonds” or ABT for short. Is the conventional wisdom right?

This week on Wealthtrack, Consuelo Mack poses the question: What place do US Treasuries, bonds in general, stocks and alternative investments have in an investment portfolio in today’s markets? The guests are Robert Kessler, head of Kessler Investment Advisers and one of Fortune Magazine’s “Top American Investors” and David Darst, Morgan Stanley’s chief investment strategist and author of The little book that saves your assets.

Note: The transcript of this interview is not available yet, but will be posted here as soon as it arrives.

Source:

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This week on Consuelo Mack WealthTrack, the question is does asset allocation still work? After last year’s devastating market losses investors are justifiably rethinking their investment mix. What’s the best asset allocation model? Consuelo asks Morgan Stanley’s asset allocation master, David Darst, noted institutional risk manager Richard Bookstaber and award-winning financial planner, Mark Cortazzo. This is good viewing material.

Note: The transcript of this interview is not available yet, but will be posted here as soon as it arrives.

Source: Wealthtrack, September 18, 2009.

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The current economic environment may have affected even the most well-considered retirement plans. Wherever you are on the path to retirement, recent declines in equity and housing prices are likely to have raised concerns about whether or not you are still on track.

This webcast comprises a panel discussion featuring the views of Morgan Stanley and external strategists as they present their perspectives on the current economic outlook and discuss key retirement planning issues. The discussion is chaired by Charlie Rose and panelists include the following:

• Paul McCulley, Managing Director and Generalist Portfolio Manager at PIMCO, and member of PIMCO’s investment committee.

• Moshe Milevsky, Finance Professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto (Canada).

• David Darst, Chairman of Morgan Stanley’s Asset Allocation Committee and Chief Investment Strategist of Morgan Stanley Global

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Barron's had it annual "retirement" issue this weekend and candidly there was a little less meat on the bone than when they have done this in the past.The best article had five snippets of varying length from five "risk experts" to "explain how to keep your nest egg from cracking."The five were Peter Bernstein, Charlie Ellis, Barton Biggs, Jeremy Siegel and David Darst.Berstein's post was a mix of general concerns and specific suggests that may not be very new but it was worthwhile to get is take.Charlie Ellis focused on global diversification which is important but the post was very short.Barton Biggs' post was totally worthless in the context of talking about retirement. He essentially spelled out why he likes tech right now. Even if he is 100% right about tech in the time ...

Your mix of investments can make or break your portfolio. WealthTrack will talk to an acknowledged master of the art of asset allocation, Morgan Stanley's David Darst plus consult with two experts about what have become essential investments for most of us: Merrill Lynch's emerging markets strategist Michael Hartnett and independent annuities expert Kelli Hueler on the next Consuelo Mack WealthTrack. Distributed by Tubemogul.