February 5, 2020
The New Year Rally After a strong 2019, U.S. stocks initially rang in the New Year by gaining three percent in the first few weeks of January, possibly due to continued optimism of the U.S.-China phase one trade deal. But this rally ended with most major …Read More
January 3, 2020
Now that 2019 has come to a close, it’s appropriate to consider what we can be grateful for. This month, the market responded well to an early December employment report that showed 266,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in the previous month. …Read More
December 4, 2019
With less than 30 days until the new year begins, investors who stayed the course have been rewarded for their perseverance. From government bonds to emerging market stocks, virtually all major categories of investments have delivered positive returns …Read More
November 4, 2019
This year continues to reward stock and bond investors. After starting the month with a decline, the overall U.S. stock market closed with a gain of 2.15% as measured by the Russell 3000 Index, a broad benchmark that includes approximately 3000 of the …Read More
October 4, 2019
This year continues to be a rewarding one for stock and bond investors alike. Despite the uncertainty introduced by an unresolved trade war, large-cap U.S. stocks closed the month slightly positive. Other types of equities followed a similar pattern. …Read More
September 4, 2019
In last month’s client letter, our president Forrest Bell, CFP® wrote about Fed Chairman Powell’s five favorable U.S. economic conditions: strong job growth, increasing wages, low interest rates, low inflation, and healthy consumer spending. As we …Read More
August 2, 2019
After beginning its interest rate tightening cycle in December 2015, on July 31st the Federal Reserve voted to reduce its policy interest rate by 0.25% to a range of 2-2.25%. This is the first time the Fed has cut the policy rate since late 2008. While a …Read More
July 3, 2019
The U.S. stock market completed the best first-half performance since 1997. All major indices, whether foreign or domestic, ended June in double digits year-to-date. All stock funds, both foreign and domestic, used in our client portfolios ended the …Read More
June 5, 2019
Interest Rates Down; Bond Investments Up; Stock Market Whipsawed May brought the first month of stock market losses in 2019. Fortunately for our clients, every stock fund position is still nicely positive for 2019, despite the pull back in May. The same …Read More
May 2, 2019
The first print of 2019 U.S. domestic product growth (GDP) for Q1 ending March 31 came in at 3.2%! This is the best surprise from April because market estimates were only looking for 2.0%. In an April 18 interview with the Wall Street Journal, Dallas Fed …Read More
April 5, 2019
The breadth of the U.S. stock market gain in the first quarter of 2019 caused all sectors of the S&P 500 to end higher for the first time since 2014. The headline article in the April 2nd Wall Street Journal reports manufacturing activity in the U.S. …Read More
March 5, 2019
The U.S. stock market is celebrating its best start to a new year since 1987. One big factor that drives this rally is the flexibility coming from the White House to delay the March 1 deadline to raise tariffs on $200 Billion of Chinese exports from 10% …Read More
January 18, 2019
2018 brought a remarkable divergence between U.S. economic data and U.S. stock market performance. The economy and the forward-looking stock market have always existed as separate disciplines, and in the short-run they often go their separate ways. In …Read More
December 5, 2018
The above is a quote from Jeff Sommers as the title of his 11/18/2018 “Strategies” column in the New York Times. He keeps buying stocks even when they are falling because he has “faith in the future.” What is the basis of his faith? It might be …Read More
November 2, 2018
You are not going to like your October statements. The U.S. and international stock markets have entered correction territory — as defined by a 10% decline or more from prior peak. History shows that markets average one 14% annual …Read More
October 3, 2018
Despite all the news that could be so distracting, investors are focusing on U.S. economic strength to rise above the breakdowns in global trade and Washington politics. Read about this and …Read More
September 12, 2018
Brian Cornell, age 60, Target CEO, asserts that we are in the best consumer environment that he has seen in his 35-year career. Target reported the best quarterly results in more than a decade as shares gained 33% this year. With the strongest same-store …Read More
August 24, 2018
One of the biggest changes resulting from the new tax law signed in December 2017 is a severe limit imposed by the Republican-controlled Congress on state and local tax (SALT) deductions. Under the previous law, these deductions were unlimited for …Read More
