Stating the obvious: no one enjoys watching their portfolio balance decline. And as advisors we know all too well how clients can feel uneasy about “staying the course” as their nest eggs shrink in periods of volatility. However, rushing for the exit when the market goes south can actually stunt long-term portfolio growth. “Timing the […]

What Doesn’t Drive Long-Term Returns As someone who invests in theirfuture, you’re likely eyeing what drives investment returns. But it’s all-too-easy to be distractedby a number of investment myths. These are nothing but short-term noise thatcan cause you to miss the big picture of long-term gains. And it’s no one’s fault. Theseinvestment myths are so widespread that […]

July 2024 Market Summary: Rotation into Value, Cooling Inflation, and Falling Treasury Yields Equities experienced some turbulence in the second half of July but most indices finished higher thanks to a solid first half of the month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.5% higher in June, the S&P 500 advanced 1.2%, and the NASDAQ slipped 0.7%. July was a stellar month […]

Clouds may be gathering. Should investors be worried about a storm? Let’s look at some factors that could trigger a market selloff in the weeks or months ahead. (Note: we’re not saying a selloff is definitely going to happen—we want you to be prepared if it does.) Factor #1: Stocks are trading near record highs […]

After months of simmering inflation reports, it looks like inflation finally eased slightly in April.1 Are prices stabilizing? Can we breathe a sigh of relief? Let’s dig a little deeper. What’s inside the latest inflation report? Economists typically look at two major inflation gauges: the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index […]

Is a zombie recession coming? (By that, we mean that renewed fears of a “hard landing” recession have emerged from the grave and are walking among us.)1 Many analysts were convinced that the U.S. economy could achieve a coveted “soft landing,” but they might be overly optimistic. Want to skip the economics? Scroll to the […]

The S&P 500 broke the 5,000 level recently for the first time in history as investors embraced euphoria and rallied.1 And then tumbled as investors got jittery.2 Then yo-yo’d a bit more. Fear and greed are the two halves of the investor psychology coin. When investors are feeling greedy and exuberant, they buy in the […]

It’s official. The bear market is behind us. The S&P 500 finally hit a new record for thefirst time since 2022. And then notched multiple higher highs in the days thatfollowed.1 That means it has passed the final bar to formalizethe bull market in stocks that started after the October 2022 market low.2 What’s a […]

How did 2023 go for you? Let’s take a moment to review some of the year’s major market and economic trends. (Before I sign off, I’ll also pass along a few thoughts about what 2024 could have in store.) AI became a major tech trend1 After ChatGPT launched in late 2022, the AI space race […]

Quick question: What do you usually find yourself reading? News summaries, headlines, and quick bits to keep yourself updated? Or longer reads like books and articles? We’re ever more inundated with information that’s eager to capture our attention. We click because we want to stay up to speed and avoid missing out. The trouble is, […]