Click here to view as PDF. “One of the main cyber-risks is to think they don’t exist.” –STEPHANE NAPPO, IBFS Global Chief Information Security Officer and Cyber Security Expert
INTRODUCTION
For many, the holiday season is a special time to pause and reflect on things that are important. It is a time to celebrate, show gratitude, and practice generosity with family, friends, and co-workers. While joyful in most cases, it can also be a very busy time of year, as people travel, attend holiday parties and buy gifts online. This busyness also applies to the seasonal uptick in scams and malware delivered through email. Requests for contributions, infected links and documents, and additional cybersecurity threats tend to increase during the holiday season, as individuals shop online and make contributions to charities. On November 19, the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an alert regarding malware campaigns and seasonal scams. Though not the most joyful topic – especially in the midst of a volatile week in the markets – we wanted to relay and expand on this important message, in the hope that our clients and readers might apply best practices this holiday season and avoid common scam and malware mistakes that can, unfortunately, lead to financial and reputational damage if necessary precautions are not taken. Common Scam and Malware Traps The NCCIC advises exercising caution when shopping online and using email. As the holiday season approaches and online shopping ramps up, so do the scam emails. Be very diligent with emails that claim to have information on recent orders placed online or come from suspicious-looking addresses. Here are some common things to look out for:- Poor grammar and spelling errors in emails that claim to come from major businesses. If the message is sloppy, it likely did not come from a legitimate company.
- Sender addresses that don’t match the URL for the company that supposedly sent the email. For example, the “From:” line in a fake FedEx email we received gave an Italian email address for the sender, not a FedEx.com address.
- Shipment emails that lack specifics about the sender or the package’s supposed contents.
- Emails asking you to open an attachment in order to review an order. Never open an attachment in an unsolicited or questionable email.
- Emails containing threats that a package will be returned to the sender and that you will be charged a fee for not responding to the message.
- Follow the NCCIC guidelines to prevent seasonal scams and malware attacks.
- Make sure emails are from a trusted source and avoid suspicious links and attachments.
- Vet requests for charitable donations, including researching the charity online, paying only by credit card or check (not cash or wire), and avoiding pressure tactics.
- Monitor your accounts regularly and watch for any unexplainable charges to your accounts.
- Contact your financial institution immediately and close any accounts that may have been compromised.
- Enact a security freeze with the three major consumer credit bureaus.
- Immediately change any passwords you might have revealed and avoid reusing passwords.
- Report the attack to the police, and file reports with the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
OUR CURRENT LIKES AND DISLIKES
No changes this week.
LIKE *- Large-cap growth (select issues are looking more attractive after the recent correction)
- Some international developed markets (especially Japan)
- Cash
- Publicly-traded pipeline partnerships (MLPs) yielding 6%-12% (accelerate accumulation due to the recent sharp sell-off)
- Gold-mining stocks
- Gold
- Select blue chip oil stocks (also accelerate accumulation with crude prices down to $50)
- Investment-grade floating rate corporate bonds
- One- to two-year Treasury notes
- Canadian dollar-denominated short-term bonds
- Select European banks
- Short-term investment grade corporate bonds (1-2 year maturities)
- Emerging market bonds in local currency (start a dollar-cost-averaging process and be prepared to buy more on further weakness)
- Mexican stocks (due to the recent severe selloff, we are adding back exposure to a Mexican REIT that we sold materially higher)
- Most cyclical resource-based stocks (some are looking more attractive)
- Mid-cap growth
- Emerging stock markets; however, a number of Asian developing markets appear undervalued
- Solar Yield Cos
- Large-cap value (again, there appear to be a number of bargains in this style/category)
- Canadian REITs
- Intermediate-term investment-grade corporate bonds, yielding approximately 4%
- Intermediate municipal bonds with strong credit ratings
- US-based Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
- Long-term investment grade corporate bonds
- Intermediate-term Treasury bonds
- Long-term municipal bonds
- Short euro ETF
- Long-term Treasury bonds (due to the decisive upside break-out recently by longer treasury yields, close out positions for now and wait to re-enter should the yield approach 4%)
- Small-cap value
- Mid-cap value
- Small-cap growth
- Lower-rated junk bonds
- Floating-rate bank debt (junk)
- US industrial machinery stocks (such as one that runs like a certain forest animal, and another famous for its yellow-colored equipment)
- Preferred stocks
- BB-rated corporate bonds (i.e., high-quality, high yield; in addition to rising rates, credit spreads look to be widening) * **
- Short yen ETF (i.e., we believe the yen is poised to rally)
- Dim sum bond ETF; individual issues, such as blue-chip multi-nationals, are attractive if your broker/custodian is able to buy them