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 …
Shocktober or Not: Why Staying Invested Beats Market Monsters
Perhaps the spookiest thing for portfolio managers and stock market investors alike this Halloween season, is the realization that October in the market has been quiet … too quiet (I know, gag …). Around the corner we’ve all visualized the monster waiting for us …
Managing What We Can Control: Time, Strategy, and Steady Hands
Those that are still watching the Federal Reserve for possible interest rate cuts were likely pleased this week to see September CPI come in at 0.18% month over month versus 0.20% the month prior. This statistic annualizes to 2.16% which is not at all far from the Fed’s target rate of inflation at 2%. That number would point to future rate cuts proceeding as everyone hopes …
Weathering the Storm: Helping Our Neighbors, Guarding Our Future
This Wealth Training Academy Market Report is going to go off script today as we remember those lost to Hurricane Helene in the last few days. Our hearts and prayers are with the people of the Mountains and the Upstate particularly as many are still searching for their loved ones and many more trying to overcome the absolute shock of having lost everything in the span of a few hours …
Aligning Wealth and Values: Navigating Markets with Meaning
This week in the market produced a mix of data points painting opposing pictures. Consumer sentiment, which is measured by The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment, is up somewhat with the September level at 69, up from 67.9. This is the most positive reading since May. Expectations for personal finances and the economy were up even as unemployment rate data weighed on survey-takers …
On the Edge of a Rate Cut: Timing, Tactics, and Opportunity
This is the week for which so many realtors, mortgage brokers as well as consumers have been waiting. It couldn’t come any sooner for those in the first two professions: housing starts are at a 50-month low and the number of real estate agents and brokers has dropped to the lowest level since 2014 …
Unwinding the Curve: What History Teaches About Recessions and Resilience
In last week’s Market Report, we discussed how volatility had ebbed in the market since Jerome Powell’s dovish speech on interest rate cuts on the way. The market did not wait even a day to return to volatility and did so in dramatic fashion as the VIX spiked 38% in one day after payroll data weakness …
Season of Change: Cooling Temperatures, Warming Markets
As the weather turns a little cooler for us all this week as we enter September, it’s worth remembering that it’s a season of change for the stock market as well. According to Liz Ann Sonders of Charles Schwab, September has historically been the worst performing month for the S&P 500 with an average decline of 1.2%. Since 1928 it’s only finished higher than it started 43% of the time …
Shifting Tides: From Rate Cuts to Bond Opportunities
With Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech last week that his “confidence has grown that inflation is on a sustainable path back to 2%,”1 and that the time had come to begin cutting rates, the stock market has nearly fully recovered from sharp losses earlier in the month …
