The Fed’s new path and what it means for Investors
The Federal Reserve met in December and outlined a new course for monetary policy going forward. They signaled two big changes: The Fed will stop buying Treasury Bonds and Mortgage-Backed Securities by March The Fed expects to raise interest rates 3 times next year, bringing the Fed Funds rate from a target of 0.00% – […]
Market Commentary: Q3 2021
Stock market returns were mixed in the third quarter. Microsoft, Google and Apple led returns in the domestic large-cap stock market; stocks traded in international developed markets and REITs were also positive. The riskier domestic small-cap and emerging market stocks posted negative results, which dragged a portfolio diversified among all these markets down over 2% […]
State of the Labor Market
Covid-19 didn’t just bring volatility to the stock market, it also brought volatility to the labor market. The number of unemployed quadrupled from 5.7 million (3.5%) in February 2020 to 23.1 million (14.8%) in April 2020. Not surprisingly, the number of job openings decreased from 7.1 million to 4.6 million at that same time. Fortunately, […]
How big are the largest American companies?
Somewhere between colossal and titanic. Apple, the largest publicly traded company in the world, has a market capitalization of $2.4 trillion. If it were its own country it would be slightly less valuable than all the publicly-traded stocks in Germany and slightly more valuable than those in South Korea. Microsoft is worth $2.2 trillion, a […]
Market commentary: Q2 2021
Stock Markets: Stocks provided positive results over the most recent twelve-month period. While all markets have done well, especially stocks in domestic markets, the markets that lead and lag vary across the various periods. While not shown in this chart, a globally diversified stock portfolio earned over 12% over the three-year period ending June 30th, […]
The fed giveth, and the fed taketh away
Around the globe, COVID-19 killed millions of people, caused nearly 100 million to lose their job, and decreased economic output by several trillion dollars. When times get this bad, we investors are prepared to see losses in our portfolios. But in 2020 we saw the opposite. The S&P 500 was up 18%, almost double its […]
Is inflation haunting your financial dreams? Part 2: what we can do about it
In our last piece, we covered the recent uptick in inflation, and what to make of it in historical context. For investors, it’s important to take a step back and look at the big picture before acting on breaking news. But what if inflation does get out of hand, and stays that way for a […]
Is inflation haunting your financial dreams? Part 1: what we know
Has the specter of inflation got you spooked? Recent headlines are filled with sightings. In this two-part series, let’s take a closer look at what to make of all the commentary, and what you can do about it as an investor. First and foremost, we caution against succumbing to fear or panic in the face […]
SPACs, NFTs, and other jungle creatures
“The American marketplace is an economic jungle. As in all jungles, you easily can be destroyed if you don’t know the rules of survival. … But you also can come through in fine shape and you can even flourish in the jungle—if you learn the rules, adapt them for your own use, and heed them.” […]
What does it mean to short a stock and what’s going on with GameStop?
GameStop has been in the news in the last week as the share price jumped from $35 to $350, and is up from an April intraday low of $2.57. There are lots of things going on with this but the one getting the most attention is the “short squeeze.” We’re going to describe what a […]
