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January 25, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
01/25/2021
Four years ago, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States and small company stocks went up over 20% in three months post-election. In the three months since Joe Biden was elected President of the United States, small company stocks are up over 30%. Do small company stock investors just like new Presidents?

February 8, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
02/08/2021
After 3 weeks of GameStop stories, it seems like the game may be stopping or at least slowing down. The question remaining is who made money and is the market any worse for wear when the dust settles.

February 22, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
02/22/2021
Every week it seems there is a new story about which investment, which “trade”, is making amazing money. Each new story brings a sense of urgency, act quickly before it’s too late. You can’t afford to miss out on this one. There are at least 3 important risks investors should pay attention to, some are urgent, some are important, some are both, some are neither.

March 8, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Matt Moklestad
03/08/2021
In 2020 interest rates hit an all-time low, and now interest rates are on the move again. It seems like investors are taking notice. This week, Matt Moklestad looks at interest rates, bonds, and inflation expectations.

March 22, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
03/22/2021
Many indicators say the US and global economy are growing at rates faster than expected. Most of this is welcome news given the past 12 months. But is there a danger the economy could overheat? Inflation continues to be on the minds of some, should it be on yours as well?

April 12, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
04/12/2021
One of my favorite comedians has always been Steve Martin. One of his funnier routines was “let’s get small.” Lately small company stocks have been outperforming their large company counterparts and it’s hard not to notice. What is a small company and why the outperformance recently?

April 26, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
04/26/2021
Markets have been reaching some all-time highs recently. US stock markets, foreign stock markets, even newer assets like bitcoin, SPACs, and NFTs have been soaring much of the past six months. At these relatively high values more than a few skeptics are predicting a fall. Some say correction – a temporary minor adjustment; some say crash – major problem ahead. Is there a reason to be acrophobic – fearful about markets at record heights?

May 10, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
05/10/2021
Daniel Wallick joins us from Vanguard for a two-part interview on our bi-monthly Financial Perspectives. This first part centers on interest rates, inflation, and the bond market. Are you wondering about what part bonds play in your portfolio and what do interest rates and potential inflation have to do with that?

June 21, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Matt Moklestad
06/21/2021
As investors we are bombarded with continuous news on the stock market and bonds. We think it can be helpful to take a step back and ask the question: are the indexes on the financial media a proper point of reference for you?

August 24, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
08/24/2021
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!

September 27th, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
09/27/2021
In Part two of our interview with Marlena Lee from Dimensional, Kent Kramer and Marlena dig deeper into changes to asset allocation and ESG investing risks and considerations.

October 11, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
10/11/2021
Friction can slow can down any machine. What was humming along only minutes or weeks ago, can labor under the strain of too little oil, a little sand in the gears, you name it. The US economy and markets have been seeing an increase in perceived frictions over the past month. Can we get back to smoother operations?

October 25, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
10/25/2021
Kent Kramer recaps his top take-away moments from our event last week with Morgan Housel. Morgan used stories to illustrate lessons to help us understand behavioral finance and psychology and how that affects the way we invest.

November 8, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
11/08/2021
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?

November 22, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
11/22/2021
In this week's Edition of Financial Perspectives, Kent Kramer chats with Mary Ellen Stanek, Co-Chief Investment Officer at Baird Asset Management. Baird specializes in risk-controlled fixed income management.

December 13, 2021 Financial Perspectives

Category: Investing
By Kent Kramer
12/13/2021
Are you wondering what happened to that big tax and spending bill that was working its way through Congress, you know the one that was supposed to raise taxes on most Americans with incomes over $400,000 and invest heavily in various domestic programs? You’re not alone. This week Kent Kramer discusses what is in and what is out of the latest rendition of the Build Back Better Bill.