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Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Spark Late Week Rally
A late-week, two-day rally left stocks higher, adding to November’s gains as the last month of trading for 2023 began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat (+0.01%), while the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.21%. The Nasdaq Composite index advanced 0.69% for...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Rise as Bond Yields Fall
A Friday rally turned an otherwise mixed week for stocks into a solid performance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 2.42%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.77%. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.38% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks...
Weekly Market Insights: Short Week Strong For Stocks
Investor enthusiasm for stocks remained strong last week, buoyed by declining bond yields in a holiday-abbreviated trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 1.27%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 1.00%. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.89%...
Weekly Market Insights: November Rally Continues
Stocks extended their November rally last week as investors cheered lower-than-forecast inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.94%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 2.24%. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 2.37% for the week. The MSCI EAFE...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Rally Friday; Powell Cautious On Progress
A powerful Friday rally left stocks higher last week, extending the market’s early November gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.65%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 advanced 1.31%. The Nasdaq Composite index jumped 2.37% higher for the week. The MSCI...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Retreat On Cautious Earnings Reports
Amid a busy week of corporate earnings reports, stocks slumped on cautious earnings guidance, fears of higher interest rates, and growing anxiety over the increasing amount of Treasury bonds and notes coming to market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.14%,...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Retreat Despite Solid Earnings
Rising bond yields and uncertainty over whether this was the close of the Fed’s rate-hike cycle dragged markets lower last week despite solid corporate earnings results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1.61%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 2.39%. The...
Weekly Market Insights: Markets React to Turmoil in Middle East, Inflation Concerns
Stocks ended mixed last week amid the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East and higher-than-expected inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.20%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 0.45%. But the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.18% for...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks Rally After Strong Jobs Report
A Friday rally overcame a shaky week, sending stocks mostly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.30% for the week. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.48%, and the Nasdaq Composite index added 1.60% for the five trading days. The MSCI EAFE...
Weekly Market Insights: Bond Yields Rise; Government Shutdown Looms
Rising bond yields and government shutdown fears left stocks in mostly negative territory for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.34%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 0.74%. The Nasdaq Composite index was flat (+0.06%) for the week. The MSCI...
Weekly Market Insights: Stocks End Summer with Gloomy News
Rising bond yields and fears of a government shutdown hammered stocks last week, with technology shares bearing the brunt of the retreat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.89%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 dropped 2.93%. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled...
Weekly Market Insights: Will The Fed Raise Interest Rates?
Concerns that the Fed may raise interest rates soured investor sentiment, sending stocks lower in a holiday-shortened trading week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.75%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 declined 1.29%. The Nasdaq Composite index dropped...
Weekly Market Insights: September Stocks Open In Positive Territory
Falling bond yields–spurred by weak economic data–helped lift stocks to weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.43%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 2.50%. The Nasdaq Composite index increased 3.25% for the week. The MSCI EAFE index, which...
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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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%...
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...