Dear Trust Officer: I’m old enough to retire, but I’m not sure I’m ready yet. I think I have strong financial resources, but I don’t know if they are enough to make me financially independent for the rest of my life. Retirement seems so terribly uncertain to me. When should I make the jump? — […]
Read MoreMonth: February 2019
Recovery
Stocks have recovered nicely from their fourth quarter rout. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up for the ninth week in a row, the longest winning streak in over twenty years. The S&P 500 was up eight of those nine weeks and now stands less than 5% from its all time high on September 20th. […]
Read MoreTime for “The Talk”?
In January, 97 year old Prince Phillip, who is the husband of Queen Elizabeth, was in a car accident. Although the Prince’s car flipped upside down after striking another vehicle, he was able to walk away from the accident after a good Samaritan helped him to escape from the car. Fortunately, there were no major […]
Read MoreNotes on an Ultra-Millionaire Tax
Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, has proposed a dramatic shift of emphasis for the federal government’s focus in taxing “the rich.” Rather than looking to income, she wants an annual wealth tax, which would apply in addition to any other federal taxes due. A wealth tax is justified, according to Warren, because the share of wealth […]
Read MoreMaking the Case for a Corporate Fiduciary
As they say in the movies, the following is based upon a true story. Alex was in the market for a boat slip. He found one, owned by a brother and sister, Jack and Jill. They had inherited it from their father. However, they seemed emotionally tied to the slip, which was odd because neither […]
Read MoreLow Signal-To-Noise Ratio
Think back to two years ago. Do you remember the 4.5% decline over the five trading days ending February 10, 2016? This decline added to what had already been an 8.8% fall in the S&P 500 which began the previous November. Do you remember the explanations provided for the 13% decline? Do you not recall […]
Read MoreQ4 2018 Earnings Season
We have gotten some relief from the volatile decline which ended on Christmas Eve, down 19.78% from 2018’s September 20th high. Five of the last six weeks have closed higher with Friday’s close leaving the S&P 500 up 15.12% from its holiday low but still 7.65% below the index high on September 20th. The pullback […]
Read More