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Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Rise, Anticipating Rate Cut
Stocks notched a solid gain last week as rate-cut expectations paced the rally as the Q1 earnings season wound down. Stocks Climb Steadily Monday opened with stocks picking up where they left off the prior Friday. Stocks were still basking in the afterglow of fresh...
Weekly Market Insights: Volatility, Uncertainty Rule the Week for Markets
Stocks notched a solid gain last week, rallying behind upbeat earnings, a dovish Fed, and mixed economic data. Stocks Pop, Drop, Then Rally Markets began the week with an upward bump as positive news from some mega-cap tech companies outweighed disappointing updates...
Weekly Market Insights: Despite Turbulent Week, Stocks Stage Comeback
Stocks staged a choppy comeback last week as investors cheered positive earnings, led by mega-cap tech stocks. The rally came to pass despite fresh data showing a slowing economy and increasing inflationary pressures. Stocks Bounce Back. Twice. Last week opened with a...
Weekly Market Insights: Fed And Middle East Conflict Diminish Stocks
Stocks fell for a third straight week, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's mixed but upbeat message could not offset the anxiety caused by the Middle East conflict. Stocks Retreat Markets began the week rattled by further escalation in the Middle East over the weekend. A bit...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Startled By Inflation, Conflict
Stocks fell last week as investors sorted through conflicting inflation reports and assessed geopolitical tensions. Inflation Spooks Markets On Wednesday, the March Consumer Price Index (CPI) report rattled markets, revealing that inflation accelerated slightly more...
Weekly Market Insights: Fed Comments Stir the Pot for Stocks
Stocks dropped last week as investors focused on “what's next” for interest rates after mixed comments from multiple Fed officials. Fed Officials Weigh In Stocks struggled out of the gate again last week, ending Monday and Tuesday in the red on concerns that recent...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Narrowly Higher
Stocks were narrowly higher for the week as investors digested mixed economic news about consumer confidence. All three of the major averages posted gains for Q1 2024. Stocks Finish Strong Markets slipped for the first half of the four-day week as investors took a...
Weekly Market Insights: Fed Talk Boosts Stocks
Stocks posted their best week of the year, sparked by news that the dovish Fed decided to keep rates steady and signaled three rate cuts were still possible this year. Stocks Bounce Back As widely expected, the Fed left rates unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day...
Weekly Market Insights: Second Week Of Stock Retreat
Stocks fell for the second straight week on inflation concerns despite a report on consumer prices that was initially well received by investors. Stocks Slide Tuesday was the only bright spot during the week as stock prices rose after the Labor Department report...
Weekly Market Insights: Markets Take A Breather After Mixed Week
Stocks were down for the week as investors appeared to take some profits and traders parsed Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony. Markets Wobble Stocks had a rough start to the week, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq each off more than one percent on...
Weekly Market Insights: Tech And AI Lead Another Advancing Week
Stocks extended their tech-led advance last week as signs of a resilient and still-enthusiastic consumer boosted momentum. Nasdaq Sets New High Stocks traded in a narrow band early in the week but ended the five-trading sessions with a powerful advance. While the Dow...
Weekly Market Insights: Market Retreats on Inflation, Economic Reports
Stocks fell last week as investors reacted to disappointing inflation updates and other economic reports that fell short of estimates. Stocks Snap Winning Streak Markets were quiet Monday but opened lower Tuesday in response to the January inflation report that showed...
Weekly Market Insights: S&P Hits Record High
The stock market experienced solid gains last week, concluding the trading week on a positive note, thanks to robust corporate reports and favorable inflation news; this propelled the S&P 500 Index to achieve a new record high at the end of the week. S&P Tops...
Questions To Ask A Financial Advisor
The recent volatility in the stock market has again become a wake up call to many investors.
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Advised Brokerage Accounts Are Better Diversified, Reports Schwab
The report highlights the benefits of working with an advisor. In general, participants who had professional help were more diversified across all of their holdings
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Where is Your Best Place to Retire?
The best place to retire in the United States is in dispute. There’s no formal debate, but a review of reliable publications showed surveys have named different states and cities as the “best” place to retire.
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Documenting Your Possessions in Case of Disaster
It’s better to protect yourself now and document your possessions rather than trying to do it after something has happened. A home inventory will give you an accurate recording of your assets for insurance purposes and give you a better idea of how much homeowner’s insurance you need to ensure proper coverage.
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Unused Vacation Days Can Be Costly
Would you give up a share of $62 billion? If your answer is no, then you may be a member of the relatively small group of Americans (36 percent) that takes all of the vacation days available to them each year.
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Red Flags for Tax Auditors
No one wants to see an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) auditor show up at his or her door. The IRS can’t audit every American’s tax return, so it relies on guidelines to select the ones most deserving of its attention.
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Six Steps To Financial Independence For Women
Financial independence: Whether you enjoy it or dream about it, it’s a common term that you’ve probably seen in magazine ads, TV commercials and billboards. But what really does financial independence mean, exactly?
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Understanding Credit Reporting
To qualify for the best loans at the lowest rates, borrowers must qualify financially and are scored by lenders using a computerized model for evaluating credit risk, developed by Fair, Isaac, and Company, known as the FICO score. Learn more
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Organizing Your Financial Records and Emergency Forms
Would someone be able to find your important papers during a crisis if you became ill, injured, or incapacitated? It’s a good idea to make sure a trusted family member or friend knows where to find your personal documents.
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5 Benefits of Working in Retirement
In the past, retirement has been portrayed as an ending, a grand exit from your years in the workplace. But the rules are shifting.
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The Drawback Of Target Date Mutual Funds
If the majority of fund management won’t even invest in their own target-date retirement funds….why should you?
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Just How Safe Is An Insurance Company, Really?
When you think about the car you drive, the house you live in, the health plan you use and the life insurance policy you have, it’s not a stretch to say insurance is an intrinsic part of our daily lives.
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Credit Freeze - You should consider it!
It’s been over a year since Equifax, one of the three largest credit reporting agencies in the U.S., revealed they’d been hacked.
What did you do to protect your data?.
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Should Parents Pay for College Tuition?
It’s a pricey question.
College Board estimated the average cost for full-time, in-state students who live on campus at four-year public colleges or universities during the 2017-18 school year is $25,290.
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Just Say NO to Pie Charts!!
Pie charts look nice coming out of a color printer, but they can’t help manage investment risk
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An Investment Advisor’s Blueprint To Making Solid Financial Decisions
A common mistake people make is to give up what they want most for what they only want right now. Pick which goals in your life are most important to you, and make achieving those goals your utmost priority. Then…
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Enjoy Life. Hire Someone To Watch Your 401K
Have you ever thought you’d be happier if you could just pay someone else to do watch your company 401K retirement plan account?
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The 7 Rules of Investing
From 1977 through 1990, Lynch ran one of the most successful mutual funds ever, posting an average annual return of 29%.
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Considering A 401K Rollover?
What to do with an old 401K?
One great thing about a 401K retirement savings plan is that your assets are often portable when you leave a job.
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Have You Checked Out Our Retirement Planning Library?
While retirement planning can seem intimidating, it’s never too early or too late to start preparing for the future.
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Common Financial Terms
We have compiled a list of important financial terms. If you don’t speak personal finance, don’t worry—we’re here to help.
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The World’s Chip Crisis
This is the most important article you will read this year. It is the details behind what we wrote about in Tuesday’s email. China wants Taiwan. Not to “reunite with the motherland”, and all the other BS reasons they dream up. There is one reason, and only one. ...
Market Update
Yesterday the RFS investment committee made the tough decision to sell your “short” positions, SQQQ and SPXS. So far it is working. You're probably wondering what has changed and why? The S&P 500 index, our main benchmark, has put up 6 green bars out of 9 in...
Bitcoin – There’s No There There
The Big Guys Move InOn September 13, 2022, the biggest of the big guys on Wall Street came out with a rather earth-shaking announcement. None other than Fidelity, Citadel Securities, and Charles Schwab have launched a new cryptocurrency exchange. In the words of the...
Thoughts On The Market
The market’s having a trying month. Fortunately, we are attuned to the economic reports that are coming out daily and will safeguard your portfolios by adjusting to the news.Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, repeatedly has confirmed the...
Uh Oh! Signs of Danger Ahead
It Was the Best of Times ….On Friday the 26th, we locked in a big win.Nine days earlier, on Wednesday the 17th, as a protective shield, we purchased a large position in SQQQ, a triple short. We sold that position on Friday, earning an 11% profit on a 40%...
Pinching Pennies, Pensions, and 401k’s
Tough TimesWhen times get rough, the natural human urge becomes one of extreme frugality. Certainly those who survived the Great Depression developed various habits prompting others to view them as “penny pinchers.”Well, today, those sitting...
Special Message
Look! Have You Noticed? Listen to any politician or any news commentator these days, and they always begin a discussion or answer a question like this: Look, when I served in the Senate …. Look, as I wrote in my last column …. Look, if the Republicans won’t …. Look,...
Special Market Update
Inflation is proving to be far more tenacious than financial markets had hoped.The idea that inflation peaked in March was put to rest last week when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that inflation accelerated in May. Overall, prices were up 8.6...
Special Message
Bonds CAN’T Fall Any Lower… Or Can They?What once was considered a “safe” investment has taken a drubbing in 2022. As of yesterday (June 06, 2022) the AGG (US Aggregate Bond Index) has fallen 10.42% 1. Just for the record, a 10% drop is recognized as an...
Memorial Day
Friends,Memorial Day is a time for Americans to honor and remember those who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces. Veterans will think back on the men and women who served alongside them who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country and...
Signs on the Horizon
A Strange World All around us we see the same thing: weirdness. According to a client of mine, a McDonald’s on Interstate 81 posted a sign in the window: Apply Inside … Work Today! So anyone with a pulse can walk in off the street and get a job at...
Important Market Update
Dear friends and clients,You’ve heard about it on the news, you’ve felt it at the grocery store and at the gas pump, you’re having to deal with it every day. It is inflation.We didn’t hear much about it in the news or feel its impact until very recently....
Q1 2022 Update
Ehhh, What's up Doc?Just two years ago, media had zero coverage of inflation as a topic of interest. Now, multiple stories appear every day about how inflation is affecting the global economy, consumers, and business.In many ways, the economy is like a...