In an environment with such low rates, retirees and income-seekers alike are finding it difficult to generate any income. Ten years ago, some retirees even went as far as going back to work. But today, with jobs difficult to find and the first group of baby boomers beginning to retire, that option may not be available.

Instead, income seekers may want to look at other means, such as the iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITS Index (REM), or some of it’s top holdings, such as Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NLY) or American Capital Agency Corp. (AGNC)

While I would prefer the more diversified REM, paying an 11.3% yield, Annaly has a 13% yield and Agency has a 15% yield. But be careful, they’re volatile.

To read more, go to http://seekingalpha.com/article/699801-generate-income-through-liquid-mortgages

For investors looking for income, the best bang for your buck may be in emerging market debt. Those markets aren’t as risky as they used to be and while they may exhibit higher volatility than developed markets, corporations are stronger and the governments are well capitalized with foreign reserves. To read more, check out http://seekingalpha.com/article/687061-income-through-emerging-market-debt#comment-6850801

Consumer confidence has slowly been improving over the last few months. Most economists, however, have commented that with the unemployment rate still elevated, consumer euphoria won’t last.

In November, consumer credit jumped more than it had since October 2001, indicating that while consumers did go shopping, they were doing so at the expense of savings. This is not a new phenomenon but it is definitely a recent one. Over the 10 years leading up to 2008, the savings rate of American consumers was actually negative. That means, the average consumer was actually going deeper into debt to purchase goods and services.

Over the last couple of years, we have seen a widespread deleveraging, (paying down of debt), as both companies and individuals were burnt by the financial crisis. Deleveraging was seen as necessary to get our economy back on some sort of equilibrium. Meanwhile, the savings rate climbed to it’s highest in decades as more and more people put money away for ‘a rainy day’.

Now, with the economy growing only moderately, we need the consumer to step it up and start spending. But the expectations of that happening have been extremely low, considering the jobless rate remains elevated and the uncertainty of the economic environment.

That’s why we welcomed the news that the consumer is borrowing again. We don’t anticipate this trend will accelerate but feel that in the short-term, it could provide the economy a surprising nudge. We forecast consumer discretionary stocks to perform better than currently expected by mainstream analysts and economists, and we think that consumer credit may actually increase for the next several months.

We know we are in the minority when we say we expect positive consumer news in 2012, but whether it’s because the consumer has finally had enough, or they actually see better times ahead, the result will be positive.

Here we are at the beginning of 2012 and while Europe is still at risk of falling apart, the US economy seems to be healing. Listen to one economist and they’ll tell you that there is no reason for the stock market to do well this year and that any early excitement will be followed by horrid disappointment. But flip around and talk to the guy behind you and the message could be quite different. That guy may tell you that bad news is already priced in (meaning, the current price of stock market indices already expect some bad news in the future), hence the low valuations/cheap stocks. Furthermore, with corporations flush with cash, the downside, if there is another downside, is limited. So with such mixed messages, what are you to do with your portfolio? Here are ???? simple things.

1. Contribute. Don’t don’t stop contributing to your retirement plans or investment accounts, if you are already doing so. That could possibly be the worst thing you could do. I’m sure you’ve heard of dollar-cost-averaging and there is no better time than now to continue to do so.

2. Rebalance – if your portfolio had a target of 80% equity and 20% bonds, then make sure you get back to those levels by selling and/or buying as needed. For example, if you find your portfolio to be 83% equity and 17% bonds, it’s time to sell 3% of your equities and buy 3% in bonds. It’s pretty simple, provided you had a target to begin with. If you didn’t, I suggest you go through our website to evaluate how your portfolio should be positioned in the long run. Take the investment questionnaire. That should give you some guidance.

3. Don’t panic. Warren Buffett has a very famous quote: “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful”. If you don’t know who Warren Buffett is, well, look him up. He owns majority shares of Geico, Coca Cola, American Express, GAP, and many other household names. And he’s worth about $40 billion, accumulated mostly by investing. The point I’m trying to make here is that maybe we should listen to him once in awhile. There is lots of fear in the market, but the key is not to panic and keep an eye out for good opportunities.

4. Think. Sometimes you hear a news story that tells you to do this or that…damn you Suze Orman, and many people just go out and do it. Maybe it makes sense for some but you need to determine if an action is right for you. In my opinion, sometimes she says things that just don’t make sense. Think about any suggestions you get from ‘news’ shows before you run out and implement them.

5. Be flexible. Just because your portfolio is positioned a certain way today doesn’t mean you can’t change it in say, two or three months. As more information is available, don’t be afraid to make changes to your portfolio to take advantage of new opportunities.