Market commentary – October 2018
Stock Markets For the last quarter, stocks are up except for Emerging Markets, which were close to flat. Domestic stocks are seemingly shrugging off the uncertainties of increasing interest rates, trade wars and tariffs. Year to date, an Emerging Market stock portfolio would be down almost 9%. It is not surprising that today’s uncertainties […]
Is your cash earning interest?
Interest rates are rising, and yet you may not be earning much on your cash. As financial markets finally begin to reflect a recovery from the crisis of 2008-09, the brokerage industry is changing the way they handle customers’ cash, and investors need to pay attention. Over the past ten years we have become accustomed […]
Understanding bond returns
We had several clients this year reach out to ask how bonds were performing in their portfolios. These are great questions, so we created a few items to address what you see in your statements. Some people notice they have held bonds for several years but seem to have a loss with their holding. This […]
New tax law makes bundling gifts to donor-advised funds attractive
“Give, but give until it hurts.” – Mother Teresa – I don’t think Mother Teresa paid much attention to the tax code, but her quote is unusually prescient for 2018 taxpayers. The changes have made it unlikely to get a tax break on money given to your favorite charities. When the Tax Cuts […]
