Happy 2020! As you are probably aware, regarding investments, we had a fantastic 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up over 25%, and the S&P 500 was even better, over 31%. Internationally, developed country stocks were up 22%, and even bonds did well with the Barclay’s Aggregate Bond Index returning nearly 9%. So, unless
I think we’ve done a decent job of educating clients because the market is presently at an all-time high and I’m starting to hear more and more comments and questions from existing clients about economic recessions and market declines. I’m glad of that, and would rather have that conservative reaction than “let’s get more aggressive”,
All of the talk today has been about recession, as the spread (difference) between the 2-year US Treasury and the 10-year US Treasury is inverted (the former is greater than the latter), which has generally been a precursor for a recession. What does that mean for long-term investors? Nothing, really. Whether or not we are
After a really nice rally this year from stocks, which more than offset the sharp decline at the end of 2018, last week U.S. stocks experienced their worst week of the year so far, ending in losses across the board. Over the 5 days until the time of this writing on Monday morning, markets are
As we start the 3rd quarter of 2019, I thought it prudent to look at a very interesting past 3 months as well as the best first half of the year for the S&P 500 in over two decades. 2019 is off to a great start, with the S&P 500 up 18.54% through the end
Wow. After an abysmal 4th quarter of 2018, the market sprang to life and rebounded solidly in the first three months of 2019, nearly making up for the losses which ended last year. Just three months ago, one week prior to the December 24th low point, we posted a commentary reminding you to think of
All of the news over the last few weeks has focused on how bad the stock market is doing; today was no exception. First I will corroborate some depressing facts that the news focuses on: This month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down nearly 2,000 points, or 7.6% This calendar quarter (since the end
The news is always out to scare us, and the news lately keeps harping on ‘the longest bull market in history’ (meaning, the market has been going up) which will occur this week, on Wednesday to be exact. On that day, according to the news, it will have been nearly 9 1/2 years since the
Quite often I say that I don’t like the Dow Jones Industrial Average as an indicator of large capitalization stocks in the United States, instead preferring the S&P 500. Here’s something that happened last week that will give you a little more insight to that opinion: Last week there was a change in the composition
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a commentary that touched on bitcoins. However, today an acquaintance of mine, Ryan Long, CFA and Director of Investments for FocusPoint Solutions, wrote this great piece: What to make of the rise in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? Bitcoin has been in the news again, with exponential gains in