Weekly Economic Updates

Equities closed last week in positive territory, as several of the indexes listed here posted record gains. Some positive economic news, particularly from FOMC Chair Janet Yellen, and favorable corporate earnings reports may have enticed investors to stay in the… Read More

As the week progressed, oil prices gained some momentum, as did U.S. stock indexes, after starting out downward early in the week. Also, on the heels of a favorable jobs report, stocks rebounded by the end of last week to… Read More

Stocks continued to move up for the third week in a row as each of the indexes listed here posted significant gains by last week’s end. The Dow gained almost 370 points, and is substantially ahead of its 2015 closing… Read More

Equities continue to put the upheaval caused by Brexit in the rearview mirror as several of the indexes listed here are above their 2015 closing values. Of those indexes, only the Nasdaq and Global Dow remain below their end-of-year values…. Read More

Due to Great Britain’s vote to exit the European Union (Brexit), June 24 was a tumultuous day for the financial markets. In the U.S. the S&P 500 Index fell by more than 3%. Other markets around the globe fell even… Read More

This week many investors waited in anticipation for the outcome of yesterday’s vote in the United Kingdom. The question to be answered was “Should the United Kingdom leave the European Union?” The consensus view was that those voting “Remain” would… Read More

The Federal Reserve’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged at last week’s meeting was not surprising. It is also becoming increasingly commonplace to see the Fed ratchet down its expectations for interest rates and economic growth. There appears to be… Read More

The income provided by dividend-paying stocks can be a critical element of long-term returns. First, dividends always represent positive returns. As dividends rise, the related investment income increases. For retirees, a strong stream of dividend payments can reduce the need… Read More

Earnings for big-box department stores continue to decline. Since peaking at a cyclical high on April 8, 2015, large department store stocks in the S&P 500 such as Nordstrom (JWN), Macy’s (M) and Kohl’s (KSS) have each fallen more than… Read More

In the United Kingdom, June 23 looms as being a potentially significant day. On that date, a referendum will be held to determine whether or not Britain will leave the European Union (collectively, Brexit). Should investors try to position their… Read More

There are numerous parallels between sports and investing. Last fall we discussed some of the similarities between football and investing. With baseball season underway, let’s take a look at some of the ways in which investing and baseball are alike…. Read More

Last Tuesday, the S&P 500 Index closed above 2100 for the first time since December; it is also currently trading within about 2% of last May’s all-time record close of 2130.82. In fact, the S&P 500 Total Return Index, which… Read More

Any person who thinks investing is easy or that he is going to be able to get every stock pick or market-related forecast correct is simply fooling himself. We cannot assure investment success by buying shares of the company that… Read More

The rules related to how financial professionals manage the trillions of dollars they invest on behalf of Americans saving for retirement are about to get stronger. The impetus for the pending change comes from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Study… Read More

When companies report earnings, they typically provide investors with a series of numbers. The most basic earnings measure is accounting profit divided by shares outstanding, which is more commonly referred to as GAAP earnings or earnings under Generally Accepted Accounting… Read More

In 2016, the market got off to one of its worst starts in history. At its February 11th close, the S&P 500 was down about 11% from where it ended 2015; it was also more than 14% below its May… Read More

Based on our observations, what consumers want to spend their money on is changing. A conversation with most of our children typically shows that they are much more interested in experiences than in things. For many, the primary item they… Read More

In our recent discussions related to the stock market’s somewhat tumultuous start to the year (see here, here and here) as well as our thoughts about what might happen in 2016, we have highlighted oil as one of the key… Read More

This is easily the worst start to a year for the stock market in history. While we said we expected the market would be more volatile this year, we certainly did not anticipate a start like this. Whether the market… Read More

The first week of the New Year was a rough one for investors. The S&P 500 Index closed lower on each of the year’s first five days. While the S&P 500 is still nearly 3% above its closing low of… Read More

For much of the year’s first half, 2015 looked a lot like 2014, as returns were somewhat in line with long-term averages. However, as the year progressed, the S&P 500’s performance became more uneven. On August 24, the market tumbled,… Read More

As expected, last Wednesday the Federal Reserve finally raised interest rates and moved away from its seven years of zero-interest-rate policy. If you came here expecting to find our thoughts on topics such as what the rate increase means or… Read More

At the risk of dulling your senses with yet another discussion of the Fed and interest rates, we thought it would be worthwhile to share a few thoughts about interest rates and the markets. Admittedly, we know that having great… Read More

When you find a product or service you like, love or know a lot about, should you consider investing in the company that makes the product? The short answer is that it could be a good starting point. After all,… Read More

Companies continue to repurchase shares at a prodigious pace. According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, almost one-quarter of the S&P 500’s constituents have reduced their shares outstanding by at least 4% over the past year. Based on data provided by… Read More

Last week was not a good one for most investors. The S&P 500 closed higher only one day during the week, Tuesday, when the index rose about three points (about 0.15%). S&P 500 Performance week of 11/9/15-11/13/15 This short-term performance… Read More

The U.S. stock market’s recovery from its August 24th low has largely been driven by five of the 10 largest companies, as measured by market capitalization, listed on U.S. stock exchanges: Apple, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon.com[i]. As shown… Read More

There are a surprising number of parallels between investing and sports. Given that we are in the heart of football season, let’s take a look at some of the ways in which a football team and an investment portfolio are… Read More

Dividend-paying stocks are an important part of client portfolios. We prefer companies with growing dividends. When companies regularly increase their dividends, the income earned from an investment relative to the purchase price (yield on cost) will rise. For example, last… Read More

Over the last 18 months, prices for West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) have tumbled from a June 20, 2014 high of $107.26 to an August 24, 2015 low of $38.24. During this same period, prices for Brent crude (Brent)… Read More

On September 21, Hillary Clinton harshly criticized Turing Pharmaceuticals about an outrageous 5,000% price hike to a drug used by HIV patients. The story’s negative backlash caused the drug maker to back down from the price increase. However, the episode… Read More

Increased market volatility makes it harder for investors to stay the course. Investors have not had to fear volatility much over the past few years as the market went nearly four years between corrections (a decline of at least 10%)…. Read More

Last Thursday’s announcement that the Federal Reserve was leaving rates unchanged remains a dominant topic in the financial news. There continues to be considerable hullabaloo about if/when the Fed will eventually decide to start pushing rates higher as well as… Read More

On Wednesday and Thursday the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet. The FOMC is the monetary policymaking body of the Federal Reserve System. There is a chance this meeting will conclude with the Federal Reserve (Fed) increasing interest rates… Read More

Beware of the Cycle of Market Emotions  It is hard to be a successful investor. No matter how much due diligence and analysis is performed before an investment is made (and, afterwards, while the security is held) mistakes will be… Read More