Blog
The Bond Market
The S&P 500 is up approximately 3% for the year through the last trading day of February. March is coming in with a bang, but we will ignore that for the moment. Even the month of February saw the S&P 500 gain around 1%....
Read MoreEquity Market Opportunities and Risks
Irvin Fisher was a prominent US economist who made many significant contributions to his field in the early 1900’s. Nobel-winning economists Milton Friedman and James Tobin have called Mr. Fisher “the greatest economist the...
Read MoreNot So Fast
Election results and vaccine announcements from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have made this the best November for the S&P 500 since 1928, with the index (SPY) gaining 10.93% through Monday, November 30th. The Russell 2000 (IWM), the...
Read MoreEarnings, the Election and Roth Conversions
Introduction This communication contains two completely unrelated sections: Market Commentary, and Why a Roth Conversion Now? We have chosen to present these in the same document because the section on Roth IRA conversions is quite...
Read MoreShow All
Patience and Uncertainty
In the monthly communication we released on Tuesday, we discussed that U.S. large cap market returns are concentrated within a handful of technology stocks and suggested that this was cause for concern. The market confirmed this...
Read MoreA Very Expensive Market
Month in Review: August 2020 Global equity markets continued higher this past month on a mix of vaccine optimism and better than expected earnings. The S&P 500 and the MSCI All-Cap World Index (a measure of all equity markets globally)...
Read MoreThe Active vs. Passive Debate
Greetings valued clients. We hope this finds you well and enjoying the summer sun to the extent possible. In earlier communications we mentioned our intention to provide commentary monthly through the end of the year. This is the first...
Read MoreNegative Interest Rates
For the past approximately two months, we have produced a communication each Friday. Our hope was to provide clear information and analysis, as well as consistent support and guidance through what has been a most unusual economic and...
Read MoreVolatility, Market Leadership and the Future
Introduction: We have suggested in recent weeks that the market and economic recovery will take time, that there will be volatility along the way. The volatility of an investment is commonly expressed using a measure called...
Read MoreCrisis Economics
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Winston Churchill: November 10, 1942 We present this Churchill quote for two reasons. First, we understand...
Read MoreJobs, Oil, Markets and Portfolios
Jobs, Oil, Markets and Portfolios Jobs: Unemployment claims increased by 4.4 million in the past week, though the trend is sharply down since spiking during the last week of March. Around 26 million jobs have now been lost due to the...
Read MoreMarket, Virus and Economic Update
The S&P500 gained another 3 ½ percent this week, with plenty of volatility along the way and a strong finish on Friday. Continued volatility is to be expected and is likely to continue through September. Market behavior is about...
Read MoreCautious Optimism
It has been a positive week for equity markets, with the S&P500 advancing approximately 9.4% in the last five trading sessions. Speculation abounds, ranging from expectations of a shorter than expected recession and bear market to what...
Read MoreThis Too, Shall Pass
Seeking Inspiration: Quite a while ago, we shared with you what is considered to be the actual history of the phrase “May you live in interesting times.” As a reminder, it likely did not originate in China, and it was not...
Read More