Category: Weekly Investment Update

Yields on Treasuries debt with maturities of one year and longer declined leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-Year Note at 2.05% on Friday. The S&P 500 finished the week fractionally lower as investors processed new information with regard to threats from North Korea, the damage and rebuilding after Hurricane Harvey and potential threats from […]

Interest rates, as measured by Treasury instruments, were generally flat for the week. Stocks advanced with the S&P 500 gaining 1.37%. Gold rose 3% to its highest level since October 2016. As we move into September, historically the worst month for stocks, it will be interesting to watch for a turn in psychology sufficient to […]

In my experience, common misconceptions investors have deal with their understanding of their investment time horizon. They tend to plan as though their horizons end at retirement or at age 70-1/2 when required minimum distributions from retirement accounts must begin. It is true, our goals, tolerance for risk, return objectives and allocations should be reviewed […]

As we pass through the dog days of summer, the month of August is barely hanging onto a gain as of Friday’s close. The financial media is reporting the market in August is on track to be the worst of the year. No matter how August finishes, clear thinking investors know none of this month’s […]

One of the greatest investors, economists and educators of all time began his lecture, Securities in an Insecure World, with the following statement: In the field of financial security, as limited to the problems of investment policy, I would say there are three kinds of threats or dangers that investors should recognize as possibly existing […]

Of the 420 S&P 500 companies which have reported Q2 earnings to date, 60% have reported revenues above analyst expectations and 73% have reported earnings above expectations. Earnings for the S&P 500 are on track to increase by 12.0% from the second quarter of 2016. The first estimate of Q2 GDP was a better than […]

To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, by failing to plan, you are planning to fail. Your vision of life for you, your family, your friends and community has many facets. Education, health, work, wealth and charity are examples of personal planning issues which require planning. Change is constant and as a result your vision will adjust to […]

You do not have to look very far to get financial planning and investment advice. In fact, you do not even have to be looking. Television, newspapers, friends, family members and people claiming to be financial professionals provide a steady flow of free, unsolicited financial advice. A financial advisor who urges you to act on […]

A kid, coming out of the store you are walking into, announces she just bought a candy bar and a stick of gum for $1.10; the candy bar costs $1.00 more than the piece of gum. Question:  How much did the gum cost? We are called on to perform quick calculations and make snap decisions […]

The S&P 500 finished the week at 2,425 and has not traded outside a range bounded by one-percent on either side of that level for the past 6 weeks. The S&P 500 has not had a 5% correction since February 11, 2016, seventeen months ago. Historically, the index has averaged three corrections of 5% or […]