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ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS: Asset Classes Defined

Posted on October 11, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By A. I. and Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

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Here is a broad menu of asset classes and alternative investments to consider:

ALTERNATE INVESTMENTS: 401[k] Accounts

Real Assets

Real Estate: Rental properties, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), land, commercial buildings.
Commodities: Gold, silver, oil, natural gas, agricultural products.
Collectibles: Art, vintage cars, rare coins, wine, sports memorabilia.

Private Market Investments

Private Equity: Investing in private companies, often through venture capital or buyout funds.
Venture Capital: Early-stage investments in startups with high growth potential.
Angel Investing: Direct investment in startups, usually by individuals.

Intellectual Property & Royalties

Music Royalties: Buying rights to songs and earning income from plays or licensing.
Patents & Trademarks: Licensing intellectual property for recurring revenue.

Structured Products & Alternatives

Hedge Funds: Pooled funds using advanced strategies like short selling, derivatives, and leverage.
Structured Notes: Debt securities with embedded derivatives for customized risk-return profiles.
Options & Futures: Derivatives for speculation or hedging.

Impact & Sustainable Investing

ESG Funds: Focused on environmental, social, and governance criteria.
Green Bonds: Bonds that fund environmentally friendly projects.
Social Impact Funds: Investments aimed at generating positive societal outcomes.

Tangible Assets

Precious Metals: Physical gold, silver, platinum.
Farmland & Timberland: Income from agriculture or forestry.
Infrastructure: Toll roads, airports, energy grids—often via specialized funds.

Income-Producing Alternatives

Peer-to-Peer Lending: Lending money via platforms like LendingClub or Prosper.
Annuities: Insurance products that provide guaranteed income streams.
Royalties from Books or Software: Passive income from intellectual property.

ETFs: Alternatively Weighted Investments

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Filed under: "Advisors Only", "Ask-an-Advisor", Alternative Investments, business, finance, Marcinko Associates, Portfolio Management | Tagged: alternate investments, annuities, asset classes, commodities, ESG funds, farmland, futures, green bonds, hedge funds, Marcinko, options, precious metals, private markets, real assets, royalties, Trademarks | Leave a comment »

STOCK FUTURES: Point Lower

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

BREAKING NEWS [12:09 am, EST]

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Stock Futures are contracts to buy or sell a specific underlying asset at a future date. The underlying asset can be a commodity, a security, or other financial instrument. Futures trading requires the buyer to purchase or the seller to sell the underlying asset at the set price, whatever the market price, at the expiration date.

FUTURES: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/futures.pdf

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Stock futures pointed lower on Monday morning as investors weighed fresh warnings on U.S. debt and the potential for President Donald Trump’s trade war to heat up again.

Dow Futures: 42,406.00

Fair Value: 42,752.14

Change: – 330.000.77%

Implied Open: – 346.14

Late Friday night, Moody’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating one notch. This came as Congress tries to extend Trump’s tax cuts and add new ones, which are expected to deepen federal deficits.

MORE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2022/01/18/on-financial-futures/

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Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Alternative Investments, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Investing | Tagged: commodity, debt, financial instruments, futures, security, stock futures, stocks, Trump | Leave a comment »

STOCK MARKETS: Overnight Futures Soaring!

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

BREAKING NEWS

By Staff Reporters

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Markets: After stomach-churning ups and downs this spring, the stock market calmed down last week with all three major indexes holding steady and closing just a bit lower. This week, investors will be glued to the details of the trade agreement with China, an inflation report, and more earnings.

Breaking News Overnight: After talks in Switzerland this weekend, the US and China agreed to a large reduction in tariffs on each other. The US is lowering its tariffs on China from 145% to 30%, while China is lowering its tariffs on the US from 125% to 10%. The new tariff rates will be in effect for 90 days while the two sides continue talking.

Stocks are Soaring. Dow Futures (7:50 AM, EST)

Dow Futures 42,340.00

Fair Value 41,321.34

Change + 1,017.002.46%

Implied Open + 1,018.66

S&P 500 Futures 5,848.25

Fair Value 5,676.70

Change + 170.253.00%

Implied Open + 171.55

NASDAQ Futures 20,911.50

Fair Value 20,133.56

Change + 774.753.85%

Implied Open + 777.94

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Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Investing, Taxation | Tagged: Breaking News, China, futures, indexes, inflation report, stock futures, stock markets, stock soaring, Switzerland, tariffs, tax | Leave a comment »

DAILY UPDATE: DJIA, S&P 500 & NASDAQ Futures Rise in Search of Bounce-Back Week

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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US stock futures rose yesterday Sunday, as the major indexes looked for another week of gains toward the end of a rough month and quarter.

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Futures attached to the benchmark S&P 500 (ES=F) rose 0.6%, with NASDAQ 100 (NQ=F) futures up 0.7%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) advanced around 0.4%.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

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Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Ethics, Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Information Technology, Investing, Marcinko Associates | Tagged: books, DJIA, DOW, futures, Marcinko, NASDAQ, news, PBMs, S&P 500, Technology, textbooks, WSJ | Leave a comment »

COMMODITIES: Futures and Intensity Types

Posted on December 16, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

DEFINITIONS

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Commodities: Commodities are raw materials or primary agricultural products that can be bought or sold on an exchange or market. Examples include grains such as corn, foods such as coffee, and metals such as copper.

Commodity Futures: Agreements to buy or sell a specific amount of a commodity or financial instrument at a particular price on a stipulated future date related to basic raw materials such as precious metals and natural resources.

Commodity Intensity: Commodity intensity refers to commodity usage per unit of economic growth. An emerging, more manufacturing-based economy will usually be more commodity intensive in terms of its growth than will a more developed, service-oriented economy.

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INVESTING: Absolute Return Fund

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

DEFINITION

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

By Staff Reporters

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As an investment vehicle, an absolute return fund seeks to make positive returns by employing investment management techniques that differ from traditional mutual funds.

Absolute return investment techniques include using short selling, futures, options, derivatives, arbitrage, leverage and unconventional assets.

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Filed under: Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Investing, Marcinko Associates | Tagged: absolute return, absolute return fund, arbitrage, derivatives, futures, investment vehicles, leverage, Marcinko, options, unconventional assets | Leave a comment »

FINANCIAL Derivatives

Posted on November 9, 2024 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

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Derivatives are securities whose performance and/or structure is derived from the performance and/or structure of other assets, interest rates, or indexes. If used moderately and in appropriate situations, derivatives can help stabilize portfolios and/or enhance returns. However, if used in excess and/or in inappropriate circumstances, they can be harmful, potentially causing portfolio instability and/or losses. Derivatives are similar to medicine in their behavior–usually safe when used as directed, potentially toxic when abused.

There are many different types of derivative securities and many different ways to use them. Some derivative securities, such as mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities, are in many respects like any other investment, although they may be more volatile or less liquid than more traditional debt securities.

Futures and options are commonly used for traditional hedging purposes to attempt to protect portfolios from exposure to changing interest rates, securities prices or currency exchange rates, and for cash management purposes as a low-cost method of gaining exposure to a particular securities market without investing directly in those securities.

Certain other derivative securities may be described as structured investments. A structured investment is a security whose value or performance is linked to an underlying index or other security or asset class. Structured investments include collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs). Structured investments also include securities backed by other types of collateral.

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DAILY UPDATE: Post Independence Day, Stock Futures and Future Salaries

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

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Here is where the major benchmarks ended on Monday:

The S&P 500 Index was up 5.21 points (0.1%) at 4,455.59; the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 10.87 points at 34,418.47; the NASDAQ Composite was up 28.85 points (0.2%) at 13,816.78.
The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was up about 4 basis points at 3.862%.
The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) was little changed at 13.58.

Financial companies had a good day Monday, with the KBW Regional Banking Index (KRX) rising more than 2%.

The consumer discretionary sector was also strong, while energy companies got a bump as crude oil futures reached their highest level in more than a week.

Health Care stocks lagged.

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Wall Street is hoping for a strong start to the second half of 2023 taking cues from the recent tech rally that has boosted the overall investor sentiment. Turning toward the U.S.-China trade war, on Monday, the mainland posed restrictions on the export of gallium and germanium to the U.S. citing national security concerns. These metals are used in semiconductor manufacturing and the curb is being used as a means of retaliation to the U.S. chip ban on China.

Remarkably, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock has been on an uphill climb lately, thanks to the growing adoption of its North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging connectors by major automakers including General Motors (NYSE:GM), Ford (NYSE:F), and Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN). Moreover, the EV maker posted better-than-expected auto delivery and production numbers for the month and quarter ending June 30, pushing shares up 6.9% on July 3.

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Future Salaries Will Decrease?

Median incomes are projected to drop over the next few decades, falling by 0.43 percentage points per year between now and 2020, 0.52 points per year between 2020 and 2030, and 0.2 points per year between 2030 and 2040.

Although the figures on their own are not staggering, the percentage drops over time will add up significantly. By 2050, an employee who earned $50,000 in 2013 will only make $44,000. The number is even more noticeable after accounting for inflation.

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Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Accounting, Alerts Sign-Up, Events-Planner, Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Investing, LifeStyle | Tagged: Accounting, CBOE, DJIA, DOW, future salaries, futures, inflation, KBW, NASDAQ, oil, S&P 500, salaries, Tesla, Treasury yields, Volatility Index | Leave a comment »

DAILY UPDATE: Markets Unsteady after SVB Fails

Posted on March 13, 2023 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

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According to MarketWatch, U.S. equity markets traded unevenly Sunday afternoon, in the aftermath of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank SIVB, -60.41% on Friday, which has cast a pall over the banking sector and damaged market sentiment. Futures for the Dow YM00, 0.86% were off 70 points or 0.2%, those for the S&P 500 ES00, 1.18% were virtually unchanged, while those for the Nasdaq-100 futures NQ00, 1.18% were about 0.3%.

MORE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2023/03/04/what-is-a-stock-market-index-implied-open/?preview=true

Over the weekend, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was holding an auction for the assets of failed SVB Financial Group Capital, the parent of Silicon Valley Bank of California, according to reports. Discussions also were said to be underway involving the Federal Reserve to possibly create a fund to protect uninsured depositors.

Investors are assessing the SVB bank failure to see if it complicates the Fed’s plans to raise interest rates further and potentially faster than previously expected in its bid to tamp down inflation. SVB was closed by California regulators on Friday, in the second-largest in U.S. history, and taken over by the FDIC.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/082610254

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ORDER: https://www.routledge.com/Comprehensive-Financial-Planning-Strategies-for-Doctors-and-Advisors-Best/Marcinko-Hetico/p/book/9781482240283

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DAILY UPDATE: Cathie Wood, META and Index Futures

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

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Cathie Wood and Ark’s flagship exchange-traded fund Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK) bought 168,989 shares of Tesla on Friday, valued at $20.68 million at the session’s closing price. The stock ended Friday’s session down 0.94% at $122.40, according to Benzinga Pro data. At one point in the session, the loss was as much as 6.4%. For the week, the stock gained 8.26%.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/0826102549

Investing $1,000 in META Stock: Shares of Meta Platforms traded at $332.46 on June 4, 2021. A $1,000 investment could have purchased 3 shares of META stock. The $1,000 investment would be worth $410.94 today, based on a current price of $136.98 for Meta Platforms. This represents a loss of 58.9% in 19 months.

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European equities and US stock-index futures fell amid signs central banks will turn more hawkish and as investors focused on earnings reports from Wall Street banks.

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ORDER: https://www.routledge.com/Comprehensive-Financial-Planning-Strategies-for-Doctors-and-Advisors-Best/Marcinko-Hetico/p/book/9781482240283

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Filed under: Alternative Investments, Breaking News, Experts Invited, Investing | Tagged: ARK, Ark Innovation, Benzinga Pro data, Cathie Wood, ETF, exchange-traded funds, Facebook, FB, futures, index, index futures, Meta, Tesla | Leave a comment »

On Financial Futures for Physicians

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

What it is – How it works?

By Tim McIntosh MBA CFP CMP® MPH

Courtesy: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

A future is a financial derivative that represents the purchase of a particular investment at a predetermined date. Futures are traded on a wide range of investments (e.g., baskets of stocks, interest rates, currencies and commodities) and are useful tools for controlling the risk of cash flow timing for those that wish to lock in a particular price for a security.

Futures versus Options

Likewise, they also provide some insight as to the expected future price in the market of the security.

The key difference between futures and options is that futures obligate both parties to make the agreed upon transaction, whereas options give the option holder the right, but not the requirement, to make the transaction.

Trades

Futures are typically traded on an organized exchange, such as the Chicago Board of Trade (e.g., interest rate and stock index futures) or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (e.g., foreign exchange and stock futures). The design of the contract traded on an exchange typically includes a pre-defined contract size and delivery month.

Margin Maintenance

Also, futures transactions generally require maintaining a margin deposit (i.e., a fraction of the trade value held in reserve to help ensure the final settlement at the contract settlement date) and the recognition of gains and losses on a daily basis with movements in contract prices.

Assessment

The pricing of a futures contract is based upon the price of the underlying security (e.g., the S&P 500 Index price), the opportunity cost of cash (e.g., current borrowing rates) and any distributions expected from the security over the period (e.g., dividends).

MORE: Futures

About the Author

Timothy J. McIntosh is Chief Investment Officer and founder of SIPCO. As chairman of the firm’s investment committee, he oversees all aspects of major client accounts and serves as lead portfolio manager for the firm’s equity and bond portfolios. Mr. McIntosh was a Professor of Finance at Eckerd College from 1998 to 2008. He is the author of The Bear Market Survival Guide and the The Sector Strategist.

Conclusion

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Filed under: Investing, Portfolio Management | Tagged: commodities, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, derivatives, futures, Managed Futures, Tim McIntosh MBA | Leave a comment »

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