Stock Buybacks – How do they work?
Stock buyback have been getting negative press lately. The recently signed Inflation Reduction Act calls for a 1% excise tax on these transactions. Many proponents of this tax hope it will dampen the enthusiasm for stock buybacks. It is not clear why. Stock buybacks are a legitimate technique for value maximizing managers to distribute excess […]
NYS Unemployment Fraud – What to do if you’ve been a victim?
During the pandemic, unemployment benefits were increased significantly to help alleviate the financial burden for those who found themselves out of work. An unfortunate outcome is that unemployment fraud has become much more common, and many people have unknowingly had unemployment benefits claimed against their Social Security number in 2021. The NYS Department of Taxation […]
Fee-Only Advisor vs Fee-Based Advisor? What’s the difference?
As if the financial industry weren’t complicated enough, there are fee-only investment advisors and fee-based advisors — and a Registered Investment Advisor firm can be either. As the wording implies, fee-only investment advisors like Rockbridge receive NO commissions or any other forms of compensation from ANY outside sources. At the other end of the spectrum, commissioned brokers receive most or all of their […]
Inflation Commentary (August, 2022)
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed to a historically high 9% over the past twelve months prompting concerns for ongoing inflation. There is much discussion in the popular press as to the causes and to the extent it is “transitory” or is becoming embedded in economic activity. While the emergence of inflation contributes to market […]
Capital Market Activity (August, 2022)
After a sharp decline in the first six months of this year, stocks were up nicely in July; a global equity portfolio was up just over 6%. These results were a welcome respite from what we have experienced thus far this year. Markets look to the future. Let us hope they signal positive expectations for […]
How Accurate Are Market Predictions?
If you ask 100 different financial “experts” about future stock market performance, you’ll get 100 different opinions. Most will be wrong, but some, by sheer luck, will be correct (luck is often confused for skill). Investors often rely on expert opinions on what to do with their investments, especially in volatile markets like we are […]
Bear Markets – What do they mean for investors in the long-term?
The most commonly accepted definition of a bear market is a 20% decline in value from the last market high. The S&P 500 has crept into bear market territory on and off so far in 2022, and it’s impossible to know for certain when things are going to turn around. However, when dealing with times […]
Six Ways a Recession Resembles a Bad Mood
There’s been a lot of talk about recessions lately: Whether one is near, far, or perhaps already here. Whether we can or should try to avoid it. What it even means to be in a recession, and how it’s related to current market turmoil. To put market and recessionary concerns in perspective, it might help […]
Ignore the Headlines
Recent headlines have been dramatic as “Inflation Soars to Highest level in 40 Years!” and “Stocks Plunge to 2022 Lows!” It sounds like the authors are all shouting, and we should really panic. It feels like we should “do something” but let’s take a step back from the headlines, and put today’s market in perspective […]
Capital Market Activity – 05/31/2022
Stock Markets Although rebounding lately, all markets are down year to date. Since December stock markets are off more than 10%. Tech stocks are especially hard hit – an equally weighted portfolio of the largest domestic tech stocks (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook) is off 25%. The premium to value markets, domestic and international, […]
