With the holiday season upon us and the end of the year approaching, we pause to give thanks for our blessings and the people in our lives. It is also a time when charitable giving often comes to mind. The tax benefits associated with charitable giving could potentially enhance your ability to give and should […]
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Turning Art into Cash without Selling
Auction house Sotheby’s reports a surge in customers who are borrowing using their fine art or jewelry as collateral [www.sothebys.com/en/articles/creating-liquidity-from-art-during-challenging-times]. Many auctions necessarily have been postponed due to the pandemic, although that has been offset to some extent by a record number of online auctions conducted by Sotheby’s. One major reason for such borrowing […]
Read MoreHandling Market Volatility
Corrections happen. The event(s) which trigger stock market corrections are seldom predictable. You know declines will occur but it is seldom possible to know when the next one will begin, how long it will last or how deep it will get. The recent 7.62% decline in the S&P 500 is likely to be the start […]
Read MoreTwo Trade Agreements Offer Optimism, But Uncertainty Remains
On December 13, 2019, the United States and China announced a “phase one” trade agreement just before new tariffs were scheduled to go into effect.1 Six days later, the House of Representatives passed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in an overwhelming bipartisan vote, virtually assuring enactment of the long-awaited replacement to the North American Free […]
Read MoreAsk a Trust Officer: Falling Interest Rates
Dear Trust Officer: When the Fed cut interest rates at the end of July, the stock indices fell. I thought lower interest rates were good for stock prices? What’s going on? Should I be worried about my portfolio? — WORRIED INVESTOR DEAR WORRIED INVESTOR: Two factors seem to have been at work to produce this […]
Read MoreAsk a Trust Officer: Stock Market Highs
Dear Trust Officer: The S&P 500 stock index has reached new highs. Should I consider selling now? — Prosperous but worried DEAR PROSPEROUS BUT WORRIED: Passing a stock index milestone is not a signal to buy or sell. However, it does focus attention on the market, and it may cause some investors to evaluate their […]
Read MoreCharitable Giving is Growing Nicely
The nonprofit sector did very well in 2017, according to the June 2018 report issued by Giving USA. Total gifts to charity exceeded $400 billion for the first time ever, totaling $410.02 billion in 2017. Gifts from individuals are the largest component, and were $14 billion ahead of the 2016 pace. All giving sectors grew, […]
Read MoreAsk a Trust Officer: Mutual Fund Distributions
Dear Trust Officer: I bought shares in a mutual fund last summer and now I’m getting a distribution of capital gains from the fund. Why? I don’t want that. Do I have to pay taxes on it? — Buyer and Holder DEAR BUYER AND HOLDER: Federal law requires mutual funds to distribute nearly all of […]
Read MoreLike-kind Exchanges Changed
Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 provides that an exchange of things that are alike will not be taxable except to the extent that cash changes hands. The most important application of this provision has been in the area of exchanges of real estate, but it also has been applied in other contexts as well, such […]
Read MoreWhat’s in a Sector?
The S&P 500 stocks may be divided into sectors, as follows: Energy Consumer Discretionary Consumer Staples Health Care Information Technology Financials Industrials Materials Communication Services Utilities Why is this important? Just as all stocks do not move in lockstep, each sector of the S&P 500 follows its own path. Some exhibit more growth characteristics; others […]
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