Here are some facts which I present, for now, without commentary: From February 19th to March 23rd the U.S. stock market was down about 35%. Since March 23rd, the market has been up over 30%. The stock market is still down about 15% since the...
We’re wrapping up an historic week for the US economy. On Monday, the unthinkable happened when oil prices dropped below $0 a barrel for the first time ever. On Thursday, the US Labor Department announced an additional 4.4 million first-time claims for unemployment, effectively wiping out...
“I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant.” Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto when their attack on Pearl Harbor was completed In February, when the US coronavirus outbreak started, our workforce reached a high of 164.6 million workers. Since then, close to 30 million, or...
In today's brief we're taking a break from discussing the current state of the economy and the stock market, two things out of our control, to turn our attention to something we can control: the interest rate on our mortgage. This isn't to diminish COVID-19...
Yesterday morning at 8:30am the Labor Department released the absolutely bewildering number of last week's initial jobless claims: 6.6 million. The week before that it was 3.3 million. These numbers are so high (and likely to go much higher) that it's hard to put them...
The stock market has enjoyed three straight days of gains after the Senate passed a massive economic stimulus bill in an effort to cushion the U.S. economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. The stimulus bill will now head to the House, which will...
The US economy is in peril and this time it's Main Street in trouble, more than Wall Street. The largest economy in the world is shutting down with increasing speed as federal and state officials issue new guidelines and requirements on individuals and businesses to...
Yesterday, we officially entered a bear market when the stock market closed more than 20% from its recent February highs. On average, we experience bear markets every three years, but this one stands out in the speed with which we entered it. In fact, it’s...
Times are scary. Virus numbers are growing, countries are closing their entire borders and ordering their citizens to stay in their homes, and uncertainty over how long it will last and how bad it will be for economies prevails. Yesterday's shock to stocks was caused...
When I got to the office on Monday, the market had just had an awful seven-day period that looked something like this: The Vanguard Total Market Index was down nearly 13% in about the same amount of time it takes my four year old to find...
