Monday the S&P 500 finally topped its previous high. Yesterday, it added another .7 percent to 2152. It has been a tumultuous fourteen months since the prior high of May 21, 2015. This large cap index dropped over 12 percent to its August low, rose over 12 [...]
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” On April 6th, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the Department of Labor (DOL) stepped in to do its part to ensure retirement savers get investment advice to help them. The Department issued its final, long awaited regulations regarding fiduciaries [...]
During the first quarter of 2016, stock ownership provided a roller coaster ride. Last week I railed against the Fed’s free money policy and its consequences. This week we examine whose ox was gored and whose geese were golden. In the short term, I think Mr. Market will continue to [...]
I dislike complaining or whining. But if I were ever going to complain about something, it would be the lousy investing climate of 2015. On the whole, it was a great year for our family and it might still be finished fantastically with the birth of our seventh grandchild, our [...]
Perhaps longer than there has been recorded history, gold and silver have been valued by man. Sometimes people ask me, What do you think about gold? Or What about silver? In this one point, at least, I have something in common with Warren Buffett. According to Investopedia, he would never [...]
This year will probably go down in history as having decent returns in terms of the usual stock market indexes. In my prior market history lessons, you may have learned (and undoubtedly forgotten—no fault of your own) that the presidential pre-election year is most often a great year, the best [...]
Under cover of darkness, at least figuratively, last week Congress passed a budget bill that actually reduces bleeding from the imaginary Social Security trust fund. President Obama signed it Monday. Some Americans will not like it, especially those who have had higher incomes during their career. The two provisions are [...]
I am not a huge fan or expert on basketball. However, I think the second most important factor next to scoring is rebounding after a failed shot. Not every shot is good, but the rebound allows an opportunity to keep the ball, shoot again, and deny the other team [...]
On this, the last day of an awful quarter for the equity markets, let’s put the present circumstances into context of a longer term perspective in case some of you are thinking of jumping out of the basement window or any floor higher. The older I get, the more important [...]
Hopefully by now, you are not tempted to jump out of your window, even a basement window, because of the financial markets. This looks to be a pretty normal correction, pullback or whatever else a temporarily falling stock market might be called. The most pronounced one of 2014 was seasonally [...]
