Mutual Funds and ETFs: What’s the Difference?
There are structural differences between an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) and a mutual fund that can create advantages to using one over the other.
Cryptocurrency: Not for the Faint of Heart
Category: Investing » Alternative Investments
Will cryptocurrency replace the $20 bill in your pocket? Will the decentralization/digitization of currency end up solving anything? Will it be of long-term value? Or will it end up being only a place for speculators to try and capitalize on the sentiment of others? Anyone wanting to allocate to cryptocurrency should understand the inherent uncertainty and volatility of this relatively new digital commodity.
Do I Have Portfolio Exposure to China?
In recent weeks, China has been a part of US financial headlines for a number of reasons. At Foster Group, we believe in globally diversified model portfolios. We invest our equity portfolios across domestic markets, international markets, and emerging markets. Our models have equity exposure to over 51 countries.
Chart of the Month – May 2022
Since the beginning of 2020, checkable deposits have quadrupled, giving consumers the ability to continue spending and withstand increased prices. What does this mean for inflation and prices in the future?
Chart of the Month – Aug 2022
The housing market has been hot since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prices have soared and the interest rate to borrow money for those homes has been at historically low levels. But what is happening now?
Chart of the Month – Oct 2023
Have you ever said to yourself “If I would have just bought that stock, I would be set!” Or “How did I not see this coming? I was watching this stock years ago!” Or maybe “I should have never sold that stock!”
Chart of the Month – Dec 2022
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
Those of you who keep up with the financial news are likely familiar with the three most quoted indices, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the NASDAQ. Sometimes, the returns for all of them are similar, but sometimes they are not.
Chart of the Month – Feb 2023
Category: Investing » Diversification
Recently, a client asked me about sectors. What are they? And how do they fit into a portfolio?
Webinar Replay: Prediction, Expectation, Speculation, & Preparation
Foster Group's Chief Investment Officer, Kent Kramer, explains how to position both your investments and your thinking to better avoid predictable disappointments.
My Top 5 Podcasts for Learners
Category: Foster Group
One of the great learning opportunities available to almost anyone in today�s world of smartphones and information technology is the proliferation of podcasts.
Selecting the Best Ingredients for Your Portfolio
In this third piece of our series on building a better portfolio by thinking of it in terms of tastes, recipes, and ingredients, we’ll focus on the benefits of selecting better ingredients.
Is Your Portfolio Tailored to Fit Your Needs, or Just ‘Off-The-Rack’?
While the alterations may be small and subtle, they make a big difference when it comes to comfort and fit. Our experience is better. For an investment thought experiment, think of the “off the rack suit” as the broad market; we simply take what we get off the shelf with no alteration. Now think of Foster Group as the tailor and the alterations as portfolio personalizations called factor allocations.
November 8, 2021 Financial Perspectives
You know the old saying, “What goes up must come down.” How is it that currently everything seems to be going up at the same time? Signs of inflation like oil prices, labor prices, trade deficits. And yet markets are going up with stocks at all-time highs. Bond prices are rising this week when often, bond prices move inversely to stock prices. Government spending is certainly going up, consumer spending is going up and tax rates seem to be poised to rise as well. What do all these upwards mean for investors?
New Year – Rates are Rising | Financial Perspectives
Welcome to 2022 where the news seem to focus, again, on rising rates –for COVID infections due to Omicron, inflation, and interest rates. The markets seem to be most concerned about interest rates. This week Kent Kramer looks at why that might be the case and what may be in store for interest rates in 2022.
The War in Ukraine | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing
There’s likely no more important news in the world right now than what is happening in Ukraine as Russia invades their smaller neighbor. Economic impacts are being felt across the globe and there is certainly a humanitarian crisis developing in Europe. Let’s take a look at the impact the Ukraine/Russia crisis has on the US and global economy.
Are Rising Rates a Blessing or a Curse? | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Equity / Stocks
With the Fed having aggressively raised their target rate all year long and bond markets, as well as stock markets, having tough years, are rising rates a blessing or a curse?
Are Rising Rates a Blessing or a Curse? | Financial Perspectives (In a Minute)
Category: Investing » Equity / Stocks
With the Fed having aggressively raised their target rate all year long and bond markets, as well as stock markets, having tough years, are rising rates a blessing or a curse?
Is ESG Investing Right for You? | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Equity / Stocks
What is ESG Investing and what could you expect over the long term?
Is the Stock Market a Glass Half Full?
The month of January was marked by negative returns for global stock markets. But, as the well-worn phrase, “Is your glass half full or half empty?” implies, our view of, or the way we feel about the state of markets as investors, may be more related to our personal dispositions than what the numbers indicate.