It has not been a fun start to 2016. In the last 5 weeks, the stock market is down 9.25% as of this afternoon. We are almost back to where we were last August when the market fell about 1800 points in ten days. This isn’t good, but it’s also not the full picture as
The last few weeks have been rough, especially the last few days, for the stock market. Several things have caused the recent unrest: a major slowdown in China, unconfirmed rumors about a hydrogen bomb in Korea, and the Saudi/Iran conflict are at the forefront. Regarding China, it’s important to note that 12% of our economy
As the year draws to a close, I wanted to go over some of the high (and low) points. The bottom line is that 2015 was a tough year to be a diversified investor: Commodities and the energy sector are down sharply due to oil dropping by about 32% year to date International emerging markets
That’s the best title I could come up with today. I’ve been looking for something significant and non-controversial to write about (as there is a lot of controversy in the news right now), and then I saw this on Yahoo Finance: So, which
First, the bad news: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 8.8% for the quarter, and 9.8% year to date (YTD). The S&P 500 index is down 8.6% for the quarter and 8.4% YTD. Small and mid-cap stock indices haven’t fared much better, down 7.7% and 6.9% YTD respectively. Internationally, most all of the developed
Now that it has finally reached 100 degrees in Texas, and the stock market is gyrating like a roller coaster, things are truly uncomfortable. On a daily basis for over a month now the news has spouted grim information, but which isn’t always grim when you take a closer look: Greece – raise your hand
“But about that day and hour no one knows…Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Mark 13:32-33 The above quote from the Bible certainly has nothing to do with the prospect of the Federal Reserve raising rates for the first time since 2006, but it was the first
…well, maybe not so happy. But I wanted to share a couple of things with you that may make you feel a little bit better, anyway. First, this article, from Yahoo! Finance, called “Your Tax Bill Isn’t as Bad as You Think”, compares U.S. taxes to taxes in other developed countries. The bottom line is
You’ve probably heard by now that the dollar has strengthened significantly over the last few months. In fact, it is up 18% since last summer and 12.5% for 2014. But what does that mean to you? If you are planning to travel abroad, your dollars will now buy more products and services than they would
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