Posts Tagged ‘market’
Market Trends to Watch
Market Trends to Watch The investment world is like the weather: constantly changing. Financial vehicles are tweaked and improved upon, particularly when there are changes to tax law or compliance rules. The world of finance is fluid, and so are we. As our lives evolve, it’s important to review and sometimes make adjustments to our…
Read MoreWhat’s New in Indexing?
What’s New in Indexing? Index mutual funds are investment vehicles comprising stocks from a wide variety of companies and track the performance of a specific index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors are able to spread their assets across many different investments with the convenience of one fund, which can help protect them…
Read MoreWhat’s Up With the Markets?
What’s Up With the Markets? Anyone who followed the often-used investment adage, “Sell in May and go away,” is likely pleased with their decision after the markets struggled in the month of August.1 While recent market events may seem dramatic, August is historically the weakest month of the year for U.S. equities.2 By mid-August this year,…
Read MoreWhat Is The Beige Book?
What Is The Beige Book? The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) evaluates a plethora of factors before making any monetary policy decisions at meetings, which generally take place eight times a year. One source that helps inform their policy decisions is the “Beige Book,” which is the informal name for the FOMC’s “Summary…
Read More2019 Midyear Outlook
2019 Midyear Outlook Kiplinger recently noted that the U.S. stock market appeared more resilient than ever, having bounced back from a devastating end of 2018. Employment remains relatively steady, inflation flat and the Fed has indicated reticence to increasing interest rates through the end of the year. In fact, the only headwinds for the rest…
Read MoreWe Had a Strong Q1 2019; What’s the Outlook for the Rest of the Year?
We Had a Strong Q1 2019; What’s the Outlook for the Rest of the Year? The first quarter of 2019 proved to be a strong one. The S&P 500 posted a 13.1% gain (the highest quarterly gain since 2009), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 11.15% and the Nasdaq increased by 16.5%. Bond…
Read MoreBull Market Turns 10
Bull Market Turns 10 March 9, 2019, marked the 10th anniversary of the current bull market, the longest-running in U.S. history. In that decade, the market more than quadrupled, and when you factor in dividends, it’s up fivefold.1 The short-term spikes over the past few years coupled with corporate share buybacks have served…
Read More2019 Market Prognostications: What the Experts Say
2019 Market Prognostications: What the Experts Say By the end of 2018, not one of the eight asset categories tracked by Ned Davis Research was on track to post a return greater than 5 percent. Since it’s common for the market to yield at least some “winners” and “losers” among asset classes each year, this…
Read MoreWhere U.S. Economics Stand Globally
Where U.S. Economics Stand Globally From the beginning, President Donald Trump’s economic policies have intended to put “America first.” Since the ultimate goal of such policies is to strengthen America’s economic growth, solve for domestic issues and make the nation more secure, it’s worth a review of how well policy changes are working toward those…
Read MoreReal Estate Update
Real Estate Update What a difference a decade makes. After the real estate debacle of the Great Recession, home prices are now near record highs in many markets with mortgage default and foreclosure rates at near record lows, according to the National Association of Realtors, or NAR.1 However, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says some…
Read More