Investing trends don’t start out of nowhere. Usually, some event happens and pushes investors towards a certain area of the market. In the case of the last year, the pandemic left a lot of people stuck in their homes with more time on their hands than normal, so many turned to the stock market. The retail investor had a resurgence. The rise of the “meme stock” captured the headlines, but…
In February of 1968, Harry Belafonte, host of the Tonight Show on NBC, had Martin Luther King Jr. on as a guest. Below is a clip of Martin Luther King Jr. responding to a question from his host and the following quote: “The economic problem is probably the most serious problem confronting the Negro community, and, I might say, the most serious problem confronting poor people generally”. It’s no secret…
Many people have been caught off guard by the recent market volatility. Most have been surprised to see asset prices increase so quickly after hitting bottom in March. We’ve seen unexpected price movements before, but this was quite extreme given the fact that we are still very much in the middle of a pandemic, with no immediate end in site. What has been driving the recent recovery? Government intervention has…
A debate has been raging in this country, regarding the economic toll and public health toll that this pandemic has caused. The arguments range from concerns about an economic depression caused by mandatory government shutdowns, to concerns about our health care system being overwhelmed by sick patients and an untold number of unnecessary deaths occurring due to an unchecked COVID-19 virus. We believe it is a false narrative to say…
Are you close to turning 65? Did you just turn 65? If the answer is yes to either of those questions, and you haven’t considered your requirement to sign-up for Medicare, you could be in for some pain later. Unless you are covered by an employer plan at the time you turn 65, it’s important to realize you are required to enroll in Medicare. Or else… There is a 7…
It’s official. As of earlier this week, all three major indexes (Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq) all ended in correction territory. What is a correction? A correction is when the stock market experiences a 10% drop from it’s highs. Is it notable? Yes. Should it be worrisome? No. Let me explain. Over the last 50 years, the S&P 500 has entered into a correction 29 times. That is…
As we discussed on this blog over a year ago, repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act was a significant plank in President Trump’s election platform. Dodd-Frank was Congress’s legislative response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis; it substantially restructured federal oversight of the banking industry with the intent to reduce the chances of another liquidity and credit crisis. While a complete repeal of Dodd Frank was never really in the cards (some…
Congress and the President recently passed the biggest tax reform in over 30 years. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 aims to make the United States corporate tax rate more competitive and therefore increase corporate investment domestically. The bill also provides for individual tax breaks beginning in 2018, that will expire at the end of 2025. What Does This Mean For My Portfolio? Corporations will now be taxed…
For decades, it has been conventional wisdom in American business that the one proper objective of corporate managers is to increase the company’s share price. That is the principal behind stock options, which tie compensation to share price. Other considerations, such as worker satisfaction, civic engagement, or environmental impact, have been perceived as irrelevant, except to the extent that they bear on profitability, and thus on share price. The…
Every now and again, we get questions from clients that we think we should share. In this post, we respond to the question in the subject line: why is the dollar in a free fall against the euro and the pound? To be sure, the US dollar is currently not in a “free-fall”. However, it is fair to ask what is behind last years drop in value of the US…
