Good Vibrations: When One-Tenth of a Percent Moves the Market

Usually, we don’t discuss a single day’s events in the market in these market reports, but this Wednesday, January 15th is hard to ignore. The groovy drum beat thumping out of the New York Stock Exchange might just make you wonder how quickly you can crash the party. I’m picking up the Good Vibrations …

Even Babe Ruth Slumped: Why Market Giants Can’t Always Hit Home Runs

No one is immune to having “one of those days,” or even “one of those months”. Even the greatest baseball players of all time have terrible stretches where they come back to Earth from inhuman streaks of stellar performance. Take Ty Cobb, “The Georgia Peach,” for example, who went 0-for-17 across 5 games in April of 1920 …

2024 in Review: Resilience, Returns, and the Road Ahead

We’ve been through so many challenging events collectively as a fractured country and a warring world in 2024 … Despite all of these challenges, some of which continue to harangue the market, such as foreign wars and especially, the valuation of the market, the market continues to march higher …

From Taxed to Tax-Smart: Turning RMD Pain into Planning Power

As the national debt passed $36 trillion this month, we all need to, as unpleasant as the task is, remind ourselves that taxes are relatively low and one day soon we’ll all have to pay for the many obligations of the Federal government and its over-reaches. For those baby boomers who were sold the concept of the 401(k) in 1978 with The Revenue Act, the bill is coming due …

Eggs, Regulations, and the Crypto Cage Match

Let’s get ready to RUMMMBBBLLLEE!!! If you were disappointed in the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul 8-round snooze-fest last month, there’s great news for you: there’s a title fight coming in late January 2025 …

Everybody Wants to Rule the World: Power, Politics, and Portfolios

Once or twice a generation there is a song released that is truly timeless. They are usually written in the context of current events. What makes them timeless is that the chords they strike are ones that reverberate throughout history, and often repeat themselves …

Buffett’s Big Bet: When Cash Becomes the Smartest Play

We all have people we look up to for guidance and inspiration. Many of us wouldn’t be where we are without a mentor who has guided us on the way or possibly a role model in the industry in which we work that inspired us. So, when that mentor or guide makes a big move to secure the future of his company we tend to pay attention …

Election Clarity: When Uncertainty Ends, Opportunity Begins

There are weeks it’s difficult to read what the market is telling us. There are usually variables all over the place, with some tilting the narrative to a bullish spin while others force us to be more cautious. There is usually difficulty synthesizing the data and determining what, if anything, we should be doing in the market at any given time …

Election Noise, Real Priorities: Why Your Financial Plan Matters More Than Politics

We’re not really into prognosticating about elections. So, we’re not going to, and we’ll resist the urge to speculate on the one topic EVERYONE is discussing. But we mentioned it, so … box checked.

No … we’re not going to let it go at that. Yes … we have kept up with polling trends in the battleground states as well as who called who what and how could they ….

Rates, Reality, and Rebalancing: How We’re Optimizing in a Shifting Market

Don’t look now, but the 10-year Treasury rate has begun climbing again. It’s risen over the last few days and is hanging around the 4.25% level, last seen in July. This has been received with a collective groan of the markets, including the Nasdaq, which has shed 1.6% just today and the Dow falling 400 points and turning in the worst day since early September …