Blog

18 May 2012

Posted at 10:33h in The Friday Brief by
Stock market averages continued down for their third week to levels last cleared in January. The S&P average, which peaked 13% above its January 3rd open is now up only 3.8% trimming more than a trillion in market value in May. The Vanguard Total Market is up 2.4% year to date. Yields on the 10-year US Treasury have tumbled from about 4% just two years ago when Greece's debt crisis began to 1.73% today. The 7-10-year Treasury is up 21% (not counting interest) over the same period.

11 May 2012

Posted at 13:24h in The Friday Brief by
A bumper sticker caught my eye this morning, and quite nearly my front bumper, as the car's driver inserted himself ahead of me. The sticker read "I'm Not Speeding - I'm Qualifying," an obvious reference to NASCAR, which was born in these parts. It occurred to me what a fitting description of market traders at today’s large banks, if not the banks themselves.

04 May 2012

Posted at 13:15h in The Friday Brief by
Unless you are Lance Armstrong (or my son-in-law), as your bike slows down, balance becomes increasingly challenging. That's the picture of where our economy is now - its slowing and investors wonder whether we can stay up or fall back into recession.

27 Apr 2012

Posted at 12:32h in The Friday Brief by
So why is debt such at bad thing? Why all of a sudden is it bringing people and countries to their knees? It's not new, in fact it's been with us as long as money has. Debt can be a really great tool that allows us to buy more of a thing or to buy that thing much sooner than we could with only our cash. And there are some things we might not be able to buy at all without debt, like houses, roads, or college.

20 Apr 2012

Posted at 12:40h in The Friday Brief by
We are extremely pleased to announce that Geoff Hall has joined our Beacon team as a wealth advisor. He comes to us from Commonwealth Financial Group. With sixteen years’ experience in the financial services industry as a Certified Financial Planner®  Geoff knew exactly what he was looking for in a Wealth Advisory firm. He talked to a dozen firms in the area; eight of them in depth before telling us emphatically that Beacon met or exceeded all of his client-focused criteria.

06 Apr 2012

Posted at 14:52h in The Friday Brief by
Jesus Christ was crucified, died, and was buried on the Friday which preceded the original Easter. Why is a day that marks Jesus’ horrible suffering and death on a cross called "good?" 

30 Mar 2012

Posted at 15:22h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by

You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.

Dr. Seuss

Anyone who can grasp the concept of a future understands the power of goal-setting and planning. We and no one else are responsible for our own lives, yet we spend so little if any of our time directing our lives, with or for any great purpose.

16 Mar 2012

Posted at 15:15h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by
What comes to mind when you hear the word confidence? You might think about the assurance of your own ability to accomplish a task or to succeed in some endeavor, great or small. You might also consider it as faith in somebody else; that they will do right or act in a trustworthy manner. Confidence in this light can also be associated with things that act in a predictable or reliable manner. It can mean a secret shared and it can describe the relationship of trust that exists to make sharing the secret possible.