Having Faith When It’s Scary
Market volatility can sometimes be downright scary. The other day, I read that the quarter ending June 30th was the 16th worst quarter in the history of the stock market. Even worse, the first quarter was bad too, making it one of the very worst six-month periods in nearly a century. How does an investor respond?
Is Now a Good Time to Invest? | Financial Perspectives (In a Minute)
A popular question investors often ask is whether NOW is a good time to invest. This week, Kent Kramer talks about what is happening in markets now, and in the past, and what investors may want to know.
Is Now a Good Time to Invest? | Financial Perspectives
A popular question investors often ask is whether NOW is a good time to invest. This week, Kent Kramer talks about what is happening in markets now, and in the past, and what investors may want to know.
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?
What to Do When the Market Is in a Bad Mood
When the going is good, we’re not all that concerned with asking or answering the question. It is when the going gets tough, like right now, that we find ourselves more interested in asking. So, “What should we do?”
Stormy Markets | Financial Perspectives (In a Minute)
With the US stock market in bear market territory as we go into the second half of 2022, you might feel like we're in a bit of a storm. If you've been feeling under prepared, Matt Moklestad walks us through six considerations for times like these.
Stormy Markets | Financial Perspectives
With the US stock market in bear market territory as we go into the second half of 2022, you might feel like we're in a bit of a storm. If you've been feeling under prepared, Matt Moklestad walks us through six considerations for times like these.
Are You in the Bear Market Buyer’s Club?
For the person who is currently contributing to a portfolio and does not need to take distributions anytime soon, this is a gift. That’s right, a bear market is a gift to those investors. If you are contributing to an investment account right now, you are already in the Bear Market Buyer’s Club.
Chart of the Month – Feb 2022
Market declines are never enjoyable in the moment. But these kinds of intra-year pull backs are normal when looking at market history.
Happy New Year? | Financial Perspectives
New Year – Rates are Rising | Financial Perspectives
Still Searching for the One?
You do not need to pick the next big winner in order to have a successful investment experience. As a matter of fact, behaving as if this were possible is an almost certain way to have a terrible investment experience. What are the hallmarks of a more successful approach?
Inflation Aware Investing
You know the old saying, “What goes up must come down.” Currently everything seems to be going up at the same time.
10 Obstacles to Investing – and How to Overcome Them
In the following article David draws on his years of experience talking with investors and academics alike to address some common hesitations all investors face from time to time.
My Top 9 + 1 from Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money
Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, spent some time with us last month. Here are my takeaways.
October 25, 2021 Financial Perspectives
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
Are You Afraid of (Market) Heights?
Investors have been experiencing some fear of heights recently. Many stocks and stock markets are at or near all-time highs. So, here’s the question investors need to ask themselves today, ”Do you think that stock markets 26 years from now will be higher or lower than they are currently, even if today is an all-time high?”