Why employ an investing strategy that is based on a summer horse race? One of the oldest stock market strategies is to “Sell in May and Go Away.” Before you factor in this seasonal “strategy,” you might want to think twice. Let’s look at the history and more importantly, the numbers. The Strategy “Sell in May and go away” is a well-known trading adage that suggests that investors should sell their stocks in May to avoid a seasonal decline in
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The IRS sees a lot of silly tax errors – here are the ones they warn against Given that it seems like the deadline for filing taxes is always fast approaching, the IRS posted a list of common taxpayer errors that could hamper the processing of your taxes, including delaying any refunds that you might be due. Here are a few excerpts directly from the IRS: Report all taxable income. Be sure to have income documents on hand before starting
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Four questions to ask your advisor, plus tools to do your own research Bernie Madoff, mastermind of the biggest investment fraud in history after he defrauded more than 40,000 people of over $65 billion, died at the age of 82 in prison on April 14, 2021. Considered by many to be the archfiend of the financial world, his death will haunt the financial industry for years, despite his 150-year prison sentence that he started more than a decade ago. Regaining
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Markets Reach New Highs in Q12021 Global equity markets had a choppy first quarter, but when the final Wall Street-bell tolled on March 31st, global markets had turned in some very solid performance numbers on their way to new record highs. Given that investors did see interest rates rise, oil prices jump, inflation worries reappear and continued headwinds from COVID-19 surface, the first quarter returns for the major U.S. and global, developed markets was nothing short of impressive. For the
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A list of must-dos for 40 and 50 year old captains that have run aground On March 23rd, the massive, skyscraper-sized container ship named the Ever Given ran aground and got stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal. It took about a week for more than a dozen tugboats, dredgers, engineers, salvage teams, and a full moon that brought an unusually high tide to free the behemoth. While it’s still not clear exactly how it got stuck in the first place, experts
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Can we see patterns from one year to the next or is it a maddening bracket? Newspapers, radio, and TV news programs refer to the Dow Jones Industrial Average every day, calling it the Dow, sometimes the Dow Jones or even the DJIA. And economists and financial advisors pay close attention to its daily changes and the longer trends. But what exactly is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, does it really matter and can one see performance patterns from year
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New guidelines to employee benefit plans for 2020 and 2021 On February 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service announced greater flexibility to employee benefit plans offering health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) or dependent care assistance programs. Under the COVID-related Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, these plans now have additional discretion in 2021 and 2022 to adjust their programs to help employees. Under such health flexible spending arrangements or dependent care assistance programs, an employer allows employees
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Examples of asset bubbles that kept growing and popped spectacularly Bitcoin is going through another spectacular price move so far in 2021, rising from about $28,000 on January 1st to about $48,000 in mid-February. And other cryptocurrencies have come along for the ride, with Dogecoin (pronounced “dozhe-coin”), being one of the oddest of the bunch. Why is it odd? Well, Dogecoin was originally a joke cryptocurrency, taking its name from the “doge” internet meme that showed a picture of a
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Although a year away, your 2021 tax planning should have already started Amidst all the pandemic news and 2020 election drama, many might have missed that the IRS also quietly published new 2021 tax rates in late October and there are plenty of changes that will impact taxpayers in 2021. While it’s more than a year away (these changes are for 2021 returns filed by taxpayers in 2022), there are a few changes that you should know about. Rules Not
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Looking for longer-term trends that might shape the next few years Let’s be honest for a second: the DJIA, the S&P 500, and NASDAQ all delivered one of the most surprising years in recent history. And while many are happy to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror, the 2020 performance for the major U.S. indices was nothing short of impressive, especially given the headwinds of COVID-19 and the drama surrounding the presidential election. Who could have predicted that: The DJIA
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