28 Aug 2015

Posted at 11:57h in The Friday Brief by
Can the US economy continue to plow ahead against global headwinds of the slowing economies of China, Europe and the developing world? Can it withstand the rapid devaluation of the oil industry and commodity prices? And most important of all, can it remain healthy during a period of rising interest rates?

24 Aug 2015

Posted at 11:23h in The Friday Brief by
Since its peak on May 21st, the S&P has fallen by nearly 10%. Stocks were pretty well behaved in the weeks that followed Fed Chair Janet Yellen's May speech in which she warned that interest rates would likely begin rising this year. But China's equity slide last Monday became the catalyst for a more significant US equity slide of 5% for the week ended last Friday. As of this writing, stock averages are down another 3%.

21 Aug 2015

Posted at 13:30h in The Friday Brief by
Market cycles, bull and bear, have considerably more impact on our psyche, confidence, and outlook than we perhaps realize. When stocks have risen for a period long enough for us to believe the trend will last, things simply look brighter. We feel more confident about our future, loosen our grip on our money, and feel more comfortable taking risk. With the the Total US Stock market up some 200% since March of 2009, we have had numerous discussions around increasing stock exposure to capture larger returns - it's only normal.

31 Jul 2015

Posted at 11:34h in The Friday Brief by

"People call it luck when you've acted more sensibly then they have." Amy Tan

When we invest or expend money to make a profit, we start from one of two vantages: Confidence or Luck. The first requires effort, competence, and a thorough understanding of what is controllable and what is not controllable and we plan contingencies for those things that are not controllable. The second perspective is the veritable flip a coin. Luck-dependent investment decisions are based on things like past performance, colorful brochures, and influential arguments.