The Fed, Government Shutdowns & the Winter Solstice
The end of this week marks the winter solstice. There is not a lot about that specific day to be excited about. On one hand, it is the darkest and shortest day of the year. On the other, it is the middle of winter, so it’s cold! As an added kicker, this year we even […]
October Market Volatility
As you arise this morning, you likely know already that the global stock market fell very sharply yesterday. It was the worst day for markets since this past February. The selloff continued overnight in foreign markets, pushing them downward toward their 20-month lows. Predictably, the news media has a wide variety of things to blame […]
Musings on Trade Wars
(Edited from commentary by Larry Swedroe, Director of Research for The BAM Alliance) For some time now, investors have been very concerned about the potential for a global trade war – a war in which there are not any real winners. That, of course, worries investors, especially those who were taught that the Smoot Hawley […]
Ah…so that’s what risk feels like
Global markets have been thumped pretty bad over the last week, and the last two trading days in particular. As of the time of this writing (Tuesday morning, 4:30am), it appears today will open lower as well. Will that hold? I don’t know. It depends on whether traders buy more than they sell today. Yesterday, […]
Equifax Data Breach – What You Need to Know
Last Friday, Equifax, one of the major credit reporting bureaus, issued a press release announcing that on July 29 it had discovered “unauthorized access” to data belonging to as many as 143 million U.S. consumers. We have compiled some information that we hope may help you understand what happened and what to do next. There […]
America Has Voted…
It is the morning of November 9th, and I can see the sun rising in the distance as I write this. Let’s all pause and take one very big, deep, collective breath. It’s over, and we are all still here. This has been one heck of a ride. We, as a nation, have a great […]
The Votes are in – “Brexit” Wins
When we warned earlier this year to brace for significant market volatility throughout this election year, a “Brexit” is not what we had in mind. For those of you hearing this term for the first time today, you may want to get used to hearing it. We are going to hear a lot about it […]
Election Years and Stock Markets
Every four years, we get a lot of the same questions about elections and the stock market. In one form or another, people are generally asking how the market performs during election years. The graph at the right shows average market performance for each year of a presidential term. As such, the market will grow at […]
Mr. Market Has Quite a Temper
I had planned on writing this week about the fact that 2016 is an election year, and that the only certainty we have about any election year is that it is going to be emotionally charged and full of uncertainty. Given the way the stock market opened 2016 this week, we’ll stick with investing for […]
Summer Market Volatility
The last few days provided a not so subtle reminder that there is real risk investing in stocks. However, the true risk lies in how you react to the pit that formed in your stomach as global markets dropped. You see, that pit is our body’s biological response to fear. We are wired to seek safety when […]