20 Sep 2013

Posted at 14:37h in The Friday Brief by
Mr. Bernanke and his Federal Open Market Committee surprised markets this week by declining to begin tapering their monthly purchases of $45 billion in US Treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage bonds. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said markets shouldn’t have been surprised by the decision because the FOMC members have repeatedly said the decision to slow, or taper, would be “data dependent.” A nearly 1.5% jump in stocks on top of the no-go Syria rally of nearly 5% definitely implies surprise.

13 Sep 2013

Posted at 14:42h in The Friday Brief by
Rapidly rising stock markets are the most challenging times for financial advisors who truly care about their client's long-term well being. This latest market rally is no different  as it has prompted a number of calls from clients asking if they should be more aggressively invested to avoid missing out on the rally. Frankly, I’ve always suspected that my answer fell short of satisfying them. Now I know why.

30 Aug 2013

Posted at 14:20h in The Friday Brief by
Talk of tapering the Fed's $85 billion monthly purchase of bonds and saber rattling over the claimed use of chemical weapons on civilians by Syria's government put a damper on stocks in August and risks worsening our struggling economy.