T. Rowe Price ViewPoints Archive

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T. Rowe Price ViewPoints provides timely information from T. Rowe Price managers concerning the economy, various industries and sectors, and financial planning and a first look at T. Rowe Price products and services.

Date	Article
December 18, 2009	10 Lessons From a Tumultuous Year with Chairman and CIO Brian Rogers When thinking back on the most recent global meltdown, two quotes come to mind: “What doesn't kill us makes us stronger” and “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” We at T. Rowe Price remember all too well the volatile financial markets of the past and have distilled some lessons from them for companies and individuals as we recover from the worst financial market crisis since the Great Depression.
December 14, 2009	New Director of Fixed Income Division Named With the completion of the Senate Finance Committee hearing, T. Rowe Price Director of Fixed Income Mary Miller, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the role of Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, plans to leave the firm on December 18, 2009. The firm’s management committee has asked Mike Gitlin, the firm’s global head of trading, to succeed Mary Miller as director of the Fixed Income Division.
December 8, 2009	The Declining U.S. Dollar—An Inflation Threat That Bears Watching The U.S. dollar has declined substantially in value relative to other currencies since early March. In part, this has been good news as it has reflected growing confidence in the world economy.
December 4, 2009	Making Connections in a Complex Global Economy T. Rowe Price portfolio managers and analysts recognize that the world’s developed and emerging economies have become more linked and interdependent than ever. What used to be a two-way street between trading partners has become a web of differing interests and needs, each exerting pressure on a new, complex global economy. Having a comprehensive understanding of these interdependencies is essential when making the best possible investment decisions for clients.
November 30, 2009	China: Still an Attractive Long-Term Investment Opportunity China’s stock market has rallied dramatically off its lows at the start of the year. The strong performance has partly reflected the Chinese economy’s enviable durability during the global recession. As a result, Portfolio Manager Ahn Lu takes a look at the long-term investment opportunities that may exist.
November 23, 2009	Financial Services Fund—A Strategic Approach to a Recovering Industry Financials are making a comeback. Jeff Arricale, portfolio manager of the Financial Services Fund, discusses how company fundamentals and risk management may be the keys to effective investing in this sector.
November 16, 2009	Morningstar^® Lauds T. Rowe Price Retirement Funds In a recent study of target-date fund offerings, Morningstar Inc. a leading provider of independent investment research, rated T. Rowe Price Retirement Funds among its "top" picks and gave them high marks across a wide range of evaluation categories.
November 9, 2009	Capital Appreciation Fund Manager David Giroux Looks Ahead Giroux shares his thoughts about this relatively conservative growth fund and his role in managing it.
October 30, 2009	Dividend Growth Fund—Common Sense for an Uncommon Market During uncertain markets, experience goes a long way. Tom Huber, portfolio manager of the Dividend Growth Fund since 2000, has experienced both positive and negative markets. His relatively conservative management approach focuses on investing in high-quality companies with strong dividend growth.
October 28, 2009	Municipal Bond Markets Stay Strong Given headlines about the fiscal challenges facing many states, some might think municipal bonds—bonds issued by states, cities, and other municipalities to fund building programs and other activities—would be suffering. In fact, municipal bond investors have enjoyed good returns to date in 2009.
October 23, 2009	Lessons From a Year of Market Volatility It's been about one year since global financial markets went into a freefall following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in mid-September 2008. Equities around the world plunged until early March 2009, when they abruptly changed course and started a remarkable recovery. Similarly, most global fixed income sectors tumbled until late 2008 or early 2009 and then unexpectedly rallied as government measures to increase lending activity began to work. Three T. Rowe Price portfolio managers assess the past year and discuss strategies for moving forward.
October 19, 2009	Signs of a Recovery, But Will It Be a Strong One? Most observers agree that the economy is now on a path to recovery after having endured its steepest downturn in decades. Alan Levenson, Chief Economist of T. Rowe Price outlines several factors that are encouraging.
October 13, 2009	Global Credit Markets Recover, But Risks Remain The 2008-2009 finance meltdown had a dramatic impact on global credit markets. Liquidity dried up, and risk-averse investors flocked to high-quality government bonds. As a result, central banks and governments took extraordinary steps to support credit markets in order to improve liquidity and stimulate weakened economies.
October 5, 2009	Director of Fixed Income Division Considered for Senior U.S. Treasury Role President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate Mary Miller, director of the firm's Fixed Income Division, to be Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets within the United States Department of the Treasury.
September 21, 2009	Emerging Markets: Worth Considering Despite Recent Volatility Emerging markets have taken investors on a wild ride over the past two years. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index—a broad index of emerging markets equities—tumbled 62% from its peak in May 2008 to its trough in October 2008. Through August 31, 2009, the index then regained a large portion of its losses, rising more than 80% from its lows.
September 18, 2009	U.S. Temporary Guarantee Program Ends The U.S. Treasury Department, as planned, has ended the Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds (“Program”) on September 18, 2009.
September 14, 2009	High Yield Bonds Stage a Comeback In 2008, high yield bonds suffered their worst year in the history of the asset class—the J.P. Morgan Global High Yield Index¹ declined 26%. However, the market staged a turnaround in the first half of 2009 as the benchmark surged 30% in the six months ended June 30, 2009.
September 9, 2009	What's Ahead for Domestic Stock Funds? In the semiannual letters to shareholders, T. Rowe Price managers offered their perspectives on the market’s second-quarter rally as well as what may lie ahead. The following highlights some of their observations, which are discussed in greater detail in the reports.
September 8, 2009	Can Technology Stocks Maintain Their Strength? Technology stocks posted solid gains in the first half of 2009 and handily outpaced the broader market despite a weak economy. Even when the market fell to multiyear lows in March, technology stocks proved to be resilient for two primary reasons. The following discusses those reasons and provides insight on the technology sector overall.
August 31, 2009	What's Next for the Energy Sector? Energy and natural resource stocks have rallied strongly since the stock market’s early March lows, in anticipation of stronger global economic growth and demand for various commodities. While many commodities have risen sharply from their lowest levels of the year, most are now fairly listless, given that only a weak recovery is anticipated for the second half of this year.
August 24, 2009	Health Care Reform and Our Take on the Sector Kris Jenner, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Fund recently shared his insights on the current state of health care reform as well as his favored industries within the health care sector. The following was based on an interview with Mr. Jenner on July 22, 2009.
August 21, 2009	7 Benefits and Tax Incentives for 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 contains several provisions that directly impact individual taxpayers. Detailed guidelines and information are available at www.irs.gov, but following are some components of the recovery program that may be beneficial to you.
August 18, 2009	The Outlook for the Financials Sector Shares of financial services companies --the worst-performing sector of the stock market in the last two years --have rebounded significantly since the market bottomed in early March. While the rally has been encouraging, the financials sector is likely to continue facing many challenges as it attempts to rebuild over the next few years. Jeff Arricale, manager of the T. Rowe Price Financial Services Fund, summarizes what happened to the sector in the first half of 2009, notes some current areas of opportunity, and offers his outlook for the next few years.
August 3, 2009	Does the Market's Steep Fall Imply Better Times Ahead? At the market’s low on March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 Stock Index (S&P 500) had fallen 57% from its peak, making for the worst bear market since World War II. The market’s plunge has reflected a sharp drop in earnings brought about by the worst recession and financial crisis since the Great Depression.
July 27, 2009	T. Rowe Price Global Equity Outlook Although we have seen signs of stability returning to markets in recent months, the fundamental challenges brought about by years of excess consumption have some way to run.
July 21, 2009	The Outlook for Fixed Income Investing Following are excerpts from some of the fixed-income funds' annual reports to shareholders. The reports cover the 6- and 12-month periods ended May 31, 2009, and offer the managers' economic and market outlooks. The full reports are now available on the T. Rowe Price Web site.
July 20, 2009	Persevering Through Prolonged Unemployment If you have been out of work for an extended period of time, you may be tempted to tap into your retirement savings to meet living expenses. This Q&A covers some key concerns that may arise.
July 1, 2009	Unprecedented Policies Could Lead to Economic Growth According to Alan Levenson, T. Rowe Price's chief economist, policymakers in Washington have moved with unprecedented speed, breadth, and force to stabilize credit markets, slow the economic downturn, and shore up the banking system.
June 22, 2009	The Outlook for International Investing Managers of T. Rowe Price international funds recently offered their economic and market outlooks in the funds' semiannual reports to shareholders. The reports cover the six-month period ended April 30, 2009, and are now available on the T. Rowe Price Web site.
June 19, 2009	Could Inflation Make a Comeback? With the recent rebound in financial markets, some investors are concerned that massive government borrowing and spending, rock-bottom short-term interest rates, and the Federal Reserve’s attempts to keep long-term interest rates artificially low will lead to an increase in inflation. Will investors who fled to conservative investments find that they weren’t as safe as investors thought?
June 12, 2009	The Psychology of Investing—Emotion Versus Logic Dramatic market volatility often compels investors to react based on their emotions. As a result, they tend to sell after the market falls and buy after it has risen—undermining long-term performance.
June 8, 2009	Getting Back Into the Market Investors who retreated from stocks are seeing the markets improve and now may have the confidence to get back in. One approach for getting back into the market is systematic investing—the steady investment of equal dollar amounts at regular intervals.²
June 5, 2009	Opportunities in the Changing Global Landscape Global stock markets are undergoing a profound shift. While the duration of this transition remains uncertain, the direction of the fundamental changes in the global economic and investing environment is becoming clear.
June 5, 2009	Six Minutes to a Better Way to Save for College This brief video featuring T. Rowe Price parents and Certified Financial Planners Judith Ward and Stuart Ritter can help you navigate saving for your child’s college education in turbulent times.
May 20, 2009	Assessing the Stock Market's Rally The outlook for equity investing in early March looked quite dismal, but a sizable rally over the last two months has brought much needed relief to equity investors.
May 15, 2009	Should I settle for stability to help preserve my portfolio? Without an allocation to stocks, your portfolio may no longer have the growth potential to achieve your goals.
May 8, 2009	Outlook for the Natural Resources Sector Consumers have enjoyed a respite from high gasoline prices as oil and other commodities plunged from last year’s record levels. Investors in natural resources stocks haven’t fared as well. Charles Ober, who manages the T. Rowe Price New Era Fund and other natural resource stock portfolios, recaps the first quarter and offers his outlook for various energy and materials commodities and industries.
May 8, 2009	When is the best time to get back into the market? Moving money into and out of the stock market based on economic and market conditions is an often risky and unsuccessful strategy.
May 1, 2009	How can I regain control over my financial future? To regain a feeling of control, and get your savings back on track, we recommend two very important courses of action: Continue your retirement contributions and rebalance your account.
April 24, 2009	I’ve suffered big losses. Why not sell everything now? Reducing your allocation to stocks could erode the opportunities for growth in your portfolio. What’s more, periods following a crisis have often shown significant gains.
April 22, 2009	Economic Update with T. Rowe Price’s Chief Economist The U.S. economic recession is poised to become the longest and perhaps the deepest downturn in the post-World War II era. Prospects for recovery were discussed on April 9, 2009, with Alan Levenson, T. Rowe Price’s chief economist.
April 15, 2009	Barron's Names High Yield Fund One of "Six Top-Notch Bond Funds" The T. Rowe Price High Yield Fund (PRHYX) was named a “top-notch bond fund” and the fund’s manager, Mark Vaselkiv, was cited as a “top-notch mutual-fund bond specialist” by Barron’s in a cover story.
April 13, 2009	4 Steps to Take if You Lose Your Job The current economic environment has presented numerous challenges in households across the nation. As a result, job stability has come into question for many individuals. If you or your spouse suddenly become unemployed, here are four steps you can take that may help make this difficult time a little easier.
April 3, 2009	BusinessWeek Recognizes T. Rowe Price as a Customer Service Champ BusinessWeek magazine recently named T. Rowe Price as one of the top 10 companies on its annual list of “Customer Service Champs.” As the article notes, “The tough economy has made starker the difference between companies that put customers first and those that sacrifice loyalty for short-term gain.”
March 30, 2009	Nice Rally. But Can It Last? Major U.S. stock indexes have risen sharply in the last few weeks. But could this prove to be just a bear market rally?
March 30, 2009	Municipal Bonds Offer an Attractive Opportunity As yields of municipal bonds currently are at high levels, T. Rowe Price believes they currently offer good long-term value for investors seeking tax-free income.

¹J.P. Morgan Global High Yield Index: Tracks the performance of domestic and overseas noninvestment-grade corporate bonds; all are denominated in U.S. dollars.

²Keep in mind that systematic investing cannot assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market. Since such a strategy involves continuous and consistent investment in securities regardless of fluctuating price levels, investors should try to continue purchases even in periods when markets are down.

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