Chart of the Month – Feb 2023
Recently, a client asked me about sectors. What are they? And how do they fit into a portfolio?
Recently, a client asked me about sectors. What are they? And how do they fit into a portfolio?
Is the title to this blog supposed to be clickbait? Of course it is. That is the point of this blog. Bad news sells.
Is there conclusive evidence that one sector is better than another when it comes to returns?
Increasing interest rates have many effects, not only on the economy, but also on stocks. Given the recent rally, we wanted to highlight that rising rates do not always mean that stocks will go down. While the stock market is not making new all-time highs just yet, the market has been resilient to a regime thought to be a drag on the markets.
Are you feeling the pain at the pump? What is driving oil prices higher?
As an investor, perspective is important. At the end of the day, a diversified, low cost, properly allocated portfolio based on your financial plan is what matters.
This year, we have seen a runup in several large names, mostly in the technology space. They have been dubbed the “Magnificent Seven” by financial news publications. Why might this matter to an investor?
In our family, we have a tradition in which, the night before our kids’ birthdays, we pause for a moment to recap the last year by reminiscing about their successes and failures. It dawned on me that these are the same feelings investors experience and learn from on their financial journeys.
If the financial goals conversation seems intimidating to you, know that you are not alone!
Market declines are never enjoyable in the moment. But these kinds of intra-year pull backs are normal when looking at market history.
Housing affordability is trending in the wrong direction. Take a look at our chart of the month showing housing affordability over the last 50 years.
Investors are always on the lookout, it seems, for new and profitable ways to help make their dollars work for them. One that has come up quite often on our clients’ radars recently is Series I Bonds (or just I Bonds).
There are nearly two job openings for every unemployed worker with labor statistics showing 11.4 million job openings compared to 5.9 unemployed workers as of April 30, 2022. This mismatch between jobs and workers means that workers have options, including leverage to ask for more pay.
Sooner or later, we're likely going to see demand cool off. The big question is how quickly inflation alters consumer spending and how quickly that pulls back inflation.
The past fifteen years have been phenomenal for U.S. stocks. They've outperformed international stocks by close to 200%. Unfortunately, no one can predict when international stocks will outperform U.S. stocks, or vice-versa.
It's natural to sit down at the end of the year and reflect on what happened. Here is a short recap of what happened in the markets and the world in 2022.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, gas prices spiked to a nationwide peak of $5.02/gallon on June 13, 2022. Since then, the price of gas has been coming down, but the discussions about it have not slowed at all.
"Why would anyone buy a 5-year bond at 3.5% when you could get a 1-year bond at 4%?"
"Why don't I put all my money in a 4-month T-bill and make 4.9%?"
In investing, a key consideration is the time horizon. There is a general perception that investing is a risky proposition, but this risk can be mitigated by holding investments for longer periods.