Thinking About Stock Market Volatility

What caused the stock market to rise by over 20% in the second quarter of 2020 even as the COVID pandemic was out of control? How about the over 11% rise in the fourth quarter of 2021 as inflation ticked up and the Fed was warning of rate increases? It seems a little more obvious why the US stock market has fallen in the first 6 months of 2022, but should it have fallen more…or less?

Q1 Wrap Up: Ukraine, Inflation, Interest Rates | Financial Perspectives

The first quarter of 2022 is in the books and once again, surprising events dominated the news. Russia invading Ukraine and the continued climb in inflation were the focus of attention and for good reason. In this week's Financial Perspectives, we'll take a look at what is happening in markets and the global economy and what investors may want to know.

Webinar: Uncertainty in Ukraine (and Beyond)

How do we deal with uncertainty in a globally connected world? Uncertainty is nothing new. It's an ongoing factor in global markets that can be embraced and often managed in investment portfolios. In this webinar, we will cover: potential impacts of Russia and Ukraine on your portfolio, the ripple effects of the war on inflation, interest rates, oil, and continuing market volatility, thoughts on what you could consider doing now, and updates regarding ongoing developments.

Equilibrium Markets in the Time of COVID

Over the years, Foster Group has utilized a number of mutual funds and exchange traded funds managed by Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). DFA was founded in 1981 on the idea of making academic investment research and empirically based portfolio management accessible to investors. In this article, Professor Kenneth French describes how markets responded to the events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 24, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Is it possible to be too smart? Can a problem or set of circumstances be overanalyzed? Is there such a thing as too much information? There’s some evidence out there that this is indeed possible! Kent Kramer shares our perspective on what’s been happening in and around financial markets recently and what we think successful investors should be thinking about – without overthinking it!

Do Small Company Stocks Like New Presidents?

In the three months since Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, small company stocks have risen more than 30%. Four years ago, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States and small company stocks went up almost 20% in the twenty-six days surrounding the election, from November 3rd to December 9th. Do small company stock investors just like new Presidents?