The recent market rally inspired several calls from clients asking whether it is time to invest money again, after a bruising first half of the year. With the past week seeing stocks retreat off their recent highs, it is a good time to review how one should invest in unpredictable markets. The S&P reached its […]
Humor me while I repeat myself. There are some points worth making more than once. Especially when it comes to inflation, recession, and the stock market. In my May 2, 2022 Blog, What’s Up with Current Market Volatility, I referenced the following: The Federal Reserve oversees the control of inflation. The key tools the Fed […]
We are amid one of those nasty pullbacks, and this time there is no place for an investor to hide. April ended with the S&P 500 and the All World Country Index Ex US down 13% year to date, while the US aggregate bond index has fallen 9%. Commodities have been a bright spot, but […]
For the vast majority of 2022 we believe the markets will be waiting and responding to everything the Fed does and everything the Fed says. The working assumption has been that we will see 3-4 rate hikes in 2022. To a certain extent that is already priced into the stock and bond market. As a […]
Looking for the return to normalcy in 2022? Expectations could be the key. 2021: the Economy, Americans, and the Markets During 2021 the economy continued its steep, rapid recovery from the deep, pandemic recession to an economy with close to 5% GDP growth and near full employment. Corporate profits soared, innovation and entrepreneurship accelerated, and […]
Monday’s market meltdown was blamed on Evergrande, a real estate development company in China. Real estate growth in China has long been a hot button issue for investors. It’s been EIGHT YEARS since we saw 60 minutes do a piece on the empty Chinese cities (apologies for the Australian version, we can’t seem to find […]
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is massive and complicated – impacting individuals, businesses, educators, state and local governments, while addressing the pandemic itself. The one aspect that would appear to be straight forward is the provision for stimulus checks, which are currently being sent out to most Americans. But that is not entirely […]
When my clients ask me for my 2021 Market Outlook, I gently laugh and say, “Well, let’s hope it is more accurate than last year’s.” On January 6, 2020 I noted that the upcoming year would likely be a “decent one” for the US economy. At the time, that statement seemed like a pretty safe […]
Our investment committee went into the election feeling quite positive about the equity markets for 2021. The outlook looked constructive whether the election produced a blue/red wave or divided government. As of this writing, the country is likely to end up with divided government: Democratic President and House of Representatives along with a Republican Senate. […]
The question I get most often from clients is, “Why is the stock market doing so well when the economy is suffering?” For most of the summer, the stock market has been buoyant. According to Barron’s, equity investors are up $13.1 trillion or 55.7% from the March 23rd lows and up $2.2T or 6.3% since […]
