Many of us wanting to gauge the health of the US economy use the Dow Jones Industrial Average as our barometer. If the Dow is up big we assume the economy must be doing very well, and if it’s down we start preparing for the next recession. However, events that [...]
Ten seemingly short years ago, the low-water point for the U.S. stock market occurred on March 9 at 666.79. There are numbers of theories about why the decline stopped on a dime and reversed. The best and most logical one is also the simplest explanation. Alas, the following was never [...]
It was a little over a year ago that I opined on the sad news that a beloved part of my own childhood Toys R Us would be permanently shutting its doors. Recently, Sears declared bankruptcy and it would appear that another priceless piece of my childhood might soon be [...]
Last week, Luke Davis and I attended the Kingdom Advisors Conference for attorneys, accountants and financial professionals. Each year great speakers share insights about dealing with our finances in ways to keep money in its proper place. It is a tool to serve much more important aspects of our lives. [...]
Last week I was blessed to attend the 2019 LINC conference in San Diego. This conference for Registered Investment Advisors is one of the best in the industry, and the wealth of information I was able to gain from its speakers and workshops was priceless. One thing in particular that [...]
Every February 14 people across America and around the world looking to celebrate Valentine’s Day will spend money on flowers, candy, jewelry, dinner and other gifts all in the name of “love”. How much money, you ask? According to The National Retail Federation, the good people of America spent approximately [...]
This might offend a few of you, but I have been a fan of the New England Patriots for a long time, and was excited to see them win their sixth Super Bowl Sunday night. There is just something about the standard of excellence they have maintained for nearly two [...]
In the past few years, the S&P 500 Index has had some good results when many investors’ portfolios have experienced lackluster to poor results. Lend me a few minutes and I will attempt to explain this and hopefully provide some light on the subject. A large part of this phenomenon [...]
If you’re on Facebook right now then you’ve probably seen people participating in the “profile pic challenge”. The way it works is you’re challenged to post your first ever profile picture side by side with your current one to show how much you have changed over that time. However, a [...]
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards, observed Soren Kirkegaard, 19th Century Danish philosopher. Therefore, we must examine at least briefly what occurred during 2018 in the worldwide financial markets. As noted in prior columns, probabilities were high that it would produce a stock market [...]
