I say it a lot: I’m glad that I was born in the United States. We have so much to be thankful for, and even when I’m mad at politicians, tax policies, etc., I realize just how good we have it here. Right now, I’m also glad to BE in the United States. While most
After a very positive year in 2014 where the market was up ~12%, the first real day of 2015 saw the market down by nearly 2%. Those that have been on vacation the last two to three weeks are suddenly skittish, wondering what to do. Oil is down now below $55/barrel, nearly half of what
The price of oil dropped below $60/barrel today, which represents a 40% decline in just a few months. Those of us in Texas have mixed feelings about this: on the one hand, it’s nice to pay less at the pump, but on the other hand our economy has boomed recently due to the Eagle Ford
If, after reading the title, you are unaware of what I’m going to talk about today, I urge you to read no further and stay in your blissful state. For the rest, though, some of whom are hyperventilating right now, I will first say: take a deep breath. What happened in the stock market today,
I got up this morning, a day after a big drop in the stock markets (which I said earlier would happen sooner or later), intending to write an article about the what, why, how, and what next. However, I quickly stumbled across the following written by Jeff Macke at Yahoo! Finance. I could easily go
“Far more money has been lost in preparing for corrections than in the actual corrections.” – Peter Lynch Investors, particularly those who have been through previous (2001, 2004, 2008) market declines, are beginning to feel skittish. The reasons for this mainly revolve around the current all-time highs of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the
I recently read a paper from Vanguard in which they said that having a financial advisor could boost your investment return over time by as much as 3%. I know that saying this is self-serving, and I’m certainly not suggesting that this would guarantee a 3% increase over a non-advised portfolio. I did, though, feel
As expected, the Crimeans have voted for independence from the Ukraine in order, possibly, to join the Russian Federation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Russia that there will be consequences if the vote went through, so now we will see what happens next. The markets are likely to be choppy in
I was talking to one of my kids this week about success. Two of my favorite quotes are: · The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. · “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Abraham Lincoln Preparing to
A record setting year for the stock market is over. In 2013, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 26.5%, the S&P 500 (large-cap stocks) was up just under 30%, the NASDAQ composite (dominated by tech stocks) jumped 38.3%, and the Russell 2000 (small-cap stocks) was up 37%. I’ve already heard in the last few