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Weekly Market Insights: Debt Talks Optimism Keeps Eyes on D.C.
Markets moved in sync last week with perceived movement in debt ceiling talks, weakening early in the week and then surging on news of progress. A solid quarterly report and guidance from a mega-cap technology company helped with enthusiasm. Overall, the markets were...
Weekly Market Insights: Despite Stall, Debt Deal Optimism Cheers Markets
Stocks rallied last week, propelled by growing optimism over reaching a deal on raising the debt ceiling and avoiding a technical debt default by the U.S. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.38% higher, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 1.65%. The Nasdaq...
Weekly Market Insights: Attention Turns To The Debt Ceiling
Stocks were mixed last week as good inflation news was offset by mounting debt ceiling concerns and rekindled regional banking fears. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.11%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 0.29%. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.40%...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks show small losses after mixed week
Stocks remained resilient last week amid mixed earnings reports, hawkish Fed-speak, and lingering recession fears, closing out the five trading days with small losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.23%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 0.10%. The...
Weekly Market Insights: Lower inflation lifts spirits in uneven week
The combination of an improving inflation outlook resulted in a week of uneven, albeit positive, performance, in which cyclical and financial stocks rallied while technology, real estate, and utilities lagged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.20%, while the...
Weekly Market Insights: Hiring Cools; Recession Fears Rise
Stocks ended a shortened week of trading mixed amid revived recession fears on Wall Street triggered by weak economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.63%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 0.10%. The Nasdaq Composite index lost 1.10% for the...
Weekly Market Insights: Banking Crisis Fears Dim; Markets Rally
Stocks rallied last week on receding fears of a widening banking crisis, led by resurging investor interest in technology and communication services names. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.22%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 3.48%. The Nasdaq...
Weekly Market Insights: Mixed Message Provokes Volatility
Modest gains in major market indices masked sharp volatility amid the uncertainty arising from mixed messages emanating from public officials and revived banking fears. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.18%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 1.39%. The...
Weekly Market Insights: Bad News Gives Markets a One-Two Punch
Stocks tumbled last week as investors reconsidered their interest rate expectations after Fed Chair Powell’s Congressional testimony that rates may need to go higher. Stocks also were rattled when a west coast bank was placed into receivership on Friday following a...
Weekly Market Insights: Mixed Results As Interest Rate Concerns Grow
Growing concerns about further interest rate hikes, prompted by fresh economic data, reversed early-week gains and left stocks mixed for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.13%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.28%. The Nasdaq Composite...
Weekly Market Insights: Mixed Feelings and Mixed Earnings
Stocks drifted lower as a week of mixed earnings reports and resurgent worries over Fed monetary policy dragged on investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.17%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 declined 1.11%. The Nasdaq Composite index lost...
Weekly Market Insights: Powell: Inflation Heading in the Right Direction
Stocks were mixed last week following better-than-expected corporate reports and increasing optimism over a slowdown in interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged lower, slipping -0.15%. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 1.62% while the Nasdaq Composite...
Weekly Market Insights: Mixed Results Following Weak Economic Data
Stocks rallied last week thanks to fresh confirmation of inflation’s cooling trend and growing optimism that an inflation slowdown may provide the Fed with space to ease up on future rate hikes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.00%, while the Standard &...
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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This Memorial Day…
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 know that we honor...
Schwab’s State of Health
Are you concerned about the potential banking crisis? We are happy to announce that Schwab, our custodian for the majority of our investment accounts, is in great shape and is growing! Schwab Reports Monthly Activity Highlights 05/12/2023 WESTLAKE, Texas--(BUSINESS...
Special Market Update
We closed out the QQQ (NASDAQ 100 ETF) long/short positions yesterday. This morning we just sold RSP, ROBO and UBOT due to weakness in their respective sectors. We are still holding the S&P-500 long/short combo to neutralize our models and to not incur capital...
EVs―The Next Big Thing
EVs―The Next Big ThingAn Interesting EmailWe recently received an interesting email from a reader of our RFS website. Katie Griffin is a Senior Communications Specialist at EcoWatch.org, a group devoted to disseminating information on the environment to help reduce...
Inflation Is Trending Lower. Now What?
The December inflation report had some encouraging news. It showed that consumer prices trended lower for the month, but more importantly, it confirmed that overall prices have been trending lower for the past six months. Now the ball is in the Fed’s court. The Fed...
Happy Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time to appreciate what we value most, a time to cherish the many gifts we have, and the people that make life special. We can also be thankful that we live in a great country known for its prosperity and abundance.As you gather to enjoy some good...
Market Update
The stock market reacted unfavorably on Wednesday as Republicans made modest gains in U.S. midterm elections but Democrats performed better than expected, as control of the Senate hinged on three races that were still too close to call. Also, Georgia's senate seat...
Veterans Day 2022
Join us in honoring Veterans Day and recognizing the deeply appreciated service of the U.S. military.
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%...