Bear Mountain Capital Inc.

Half Dome Is Anything but Average

| October 4, 2023

What we remember A few weeks ago, I had the chance to hike Half Dome in Yosemite National Park for the second time in my life. The first time was over 23 years ago with two close friends. The three of us reunited, added one more long-time friend, and ventured out again to conquer the 8,800 granite peak, climbing 4,800 feet of elevation to reach the top. It was a…

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FOMO and Personal Finance

| August 28, 2023

FOMO is the new catchy acronym for a very old phenomenon we know as the “fear of missing out.” While the term is often used in social contexts, FOMO is extremely prevalent when it comes to our personal finances. Oftentimes, we just don’t realize it.  In this blog post, we’re going to highlight some common situations where we may feel financial FOMO as it relates to our lifestyle, investing, and…

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Building Wealth

| April 4, 2023

Recently, I had a chance to preview a personal finance book by a best-selling author that focused on how to build and manage your wealth. During the process of reading an early draft of the book, it struck me that it is easy for many to think of wealth building and wealth management as the same thing. However, they are distinctly different and should be considered separately. Building wealth is…

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Buy For the Long Term: When is that?

| July 21, 2022

During most years, the stock market tends to go up in value, 73% of the time since 1928, to be precise.1 Using historical returns as an indicator, in any given year, you’re usually better off investing in ‘the market’ than not investing at all. Unfortunately, the S&P 500 (often referred to as the ‘the market’), is having one of its worst starts to the year ever and at the time…

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MARKET TIMING: WHY NOT TRY?

| April 5, 2022

During times of high market valuations and following long-periods of strong market returns, we are often asked where we think the market is “going from here”. The real question behind this inquiry is “is it time to sell?” When markets go up, it’s natural to be excited about the gains, while feeling nervous about giving back those same gains in the next market downturn. The crux of the question is…

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Slavery and It’s Everlasting Effects on Economic and Racial Inequality

| August 18, 2020

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…

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Hey Alexa – What is a Market Correction?

| December 19, 2018

  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…

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What’s (not) in a Word: Trade Deficit

| November 15, 2017

  Last month, we wrote about the sometimes misleading terminology used to describe relative currency values: the “strong” and “weak” dollar. Another example of labels that can mislead us about economic issues is one that has been in the news of late: the so-called “trade deficit.” The United States runs a trade deficit with another country when it imports more from that country than it exports to it. The opposite…

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Owning Your Company’s Stock

| October 19, 2016

  Currently, one of the nation’s biggest banks, Wells Fargo, is in the middle of a serious scandal. The company fraudulently opened extra customer accounts without their consent or knowledge in order to boost revenue. (Click here to read story) Prior to the latest news, Wells Fargo was considered to be one of the darlings of Wall Street. Warren Buffett, a major stakeholder, loved to talk about the bank. However, since the…

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What is Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA)?

| July 26, 2016

  The global investment community has been focused on the recent vote by the UK to leave the European Union, broadly referred to as the “Brexit.”  This historic event will have economic impacts on the UK and the European Union, as well as their trading partners.  Unsurprisingly, equity markets experienced sharp declines in the days following Brexit and have since seen a significant rebound.  If you haven’t already, please read…

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