The Masters reminds us that traditions (like annual financial planning) strengthen bonds and offer security Scheduled annually for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first major of the year. Except in 2020. On March 13th, Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, told the sports world that the Masters Tournament, the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals would be postponed. Then on April 6th, just a few days before
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Should stock market investors hope for a unified or a divided Washington? Does the party occupying the White House affect the U.S. stock markets and other economic measurements? How does the party controlling Congress affect markets? While it’s interesting to review history and try to answer those questions, before we draw any conclusions, we should at least acknowledge that “past performance is no guarantee of future results.” That is especially true this year as virtually everyone would agree that COVID-19
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A Very Solid Third Quarter Global equity markets continued their rebound from earlier this year, despite struggling in the final month of the quarter. By the time the third quarter closed, investors saw that: The DJIA ended the third quarter up 7.6% The S&P 500 ended up 8.5% NASDAQ ended up 11.5% for the quarter It should be noted that the positive third quarter came after what many will see as validation of that September Swoon theory – when the
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Why long-term investing success is about time in the market, not timing It is only natural that investors would want to find some way to sit out bear markets and get back just in time for the next bull run. The belief that you can foresee the direction of the stock market is a seductive one. Some investors are confident that they can time it perfectly and snap up equities when prices are low and shift into cash or bonds
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Stock markets have been very strange this year. We witnessed the fastest sell-off in history between February and March, with the S&P 500 falling more than 30%, only to enjoy the best recovery ever, reaching an all-time high on August 21. Institutional investors and especially pension funds have gone from panicking to completely reconsidering their long-term asset allocations. What we thought would be the biggest stock market crash in history has led to a fundamental reconsideration of the key risks
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September has historically been the worst month of the year for investors So much for the notion of “Sell in May and Go Away.” If you subscribed to that so-called market strategy in 2020, here is what you would have missed: The S&P 500 was up: 5% in May; 8% in June; 5% in July; and 0% in August. And don’t forget, those four months of S&P 500 gains were on the heels of April’s 12.7% increase. Five consecutive up-months
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“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Mike Tyson Recent surveys have indicated that many of us are rethinking our retirement plans because of COVID-19. In fact, one survey from the nonprofit group Life Happens suggests that a whopping 43% of Americans say they plan to postpone and continue working past their retirement date because of COVID. As a financial advisor, this is troubling for lots of reasons. And while it’s impossible to make blanket statements
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Should we cheer if third-quarter 2020 GDP numbers are the best in history? Remember back in late May when the Commerce Department reported that our U.S. economy shrank at an even faster pace than previously estimated in the first quarter of 2020 and consensus expectations suggested that the second quarter of 2020 would be far worse? Well, it happened. On Thursday, July 30th, the Commerce Department reported that GDP decreased at an annual rate of 32.9% in the second quarter
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Everyone needs to determine their financial staying power Some life transitions, such as a career change or marriage, are planned, but a job loss or divorce can be sudden and unexpected. One common thread that accompanies all transitions, however, is the concern about whether there will be enough money to maintain your lifestyle. The timing involved with the unpredictability of certain life events is often the main cause of anxiety over personal finances. One way of dealing with this problem is to determine
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A Record-Setting Quarter Global equity markets continued their rebound from the dismal first quarter of 2020 and by the time the second quarter closed, the major U.S. indices had marched to record quarterly gains, including: The DJIA recording its best quarter since the first quarter of 1987, with a gain of 17.8% The S&P 500 recording its best quarter since the fourth quarter of 1998, leaping 19.9% NASDAQ recording its best quarter since the fourth quarter of 1999, soaring 30.6%
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