With this market, it’s always something. First it was inflation. Then it was technology companies, and then North Korea and then the Federal Reserve’s policy on interest rates. And a trade war? It’s e …
Forget about location, it’s “rates, rates, rates” that are the most important terms for consumers, investors and the economy. That means interest rates and they are major drivers of the health and gro …
It sure was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it? A new president, promises of deregulation and new tax cuts tickled the stock markets for 16 months. Now, there’s a wall of worry being built based on the th …
Inflation is a bad thing, right? It make things more expensive, right? For those of us of, let’s say, a certain vintage, we recall the runaway inflation of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. So why doe …
Long after the days of economic analysis based on the size of Alan Greenspan’s briefcase, it’s still a compelling question for market watchers: what will the Federal Reserve do next? Will it raise int …
If you subscribe to the bearish view and believe a correction is coming in stocks, you are probably in a bit of a quandary about what to do about it: do you get out of the market completely or get eve …
We’re in an era of extremes. It seems a day doesn’t go by without the word “historical” popping up in the financial news. The equities market and consumer debt are at historical highs. Interest rates …
Man, I didn’t see that coming. Ever said that before? I have. September 2008. Right after AIG went down – and this was six months after Lehman Brothers’ BK and the S&P 500 touched 666 on March 6, …
“You’re welcome.” It’s a phrase that every one of us learned to say when we were young. Not just to be polite, but to express our willingness to give something—our time, money, or thought— to so …
Going independent. You’ve been thinking about it for years, but something has always stood in the way. The safety of a big organization. The familiarity with the people, technology, and processes. The …
For some, recent headlines have been unwelcome harbingers of changing tides in the advisory business, many of which are rooted in the DOL fiduciary rule. News has finally been trickling out about how …
Every year after tax season, ‘for sale’ signs go up at CPA firms across the country. It’s no wonder. It’s a grueling business that forces accountants to run a marathon-length sprint at tax time to acc …
True story: I had a friend who was such an abysmal investor he actually started investing against his own judgment. He’d plow through masses of data, read every piece of expert investment ad …
In the words of Steve Jobs, it’s time to “think different.” About technology, about your clients, and about your business. There’s a lot of change going on in the investment world, and roboadvisors an …
I know. I know. Everyone’s tired of even thinking about a possible rate hike when the Fed meets on September 20. We’ve been going down the same road, for so long, that it seems almost inconceivable th …
The proliferation of non-bank banking in the residential mortgage industry contributed to the great recession that began in 2008. Ironically, the consequences of the great recession have created the n …
True story: I had a friend who was such an abysmal investor he actually started investing against his own judgment. He’d plow through masses of data, read every piece of expert investment advice he co …
Remember the phrase “lower for longer” that the market used to use to describe the outlook for US interest rates? In a post-Brexit world, “lower forever” seems more appropriate. The continued, and pos …
A lot of advisors talk about the desire to bring on next-generation clients. What’s fascinating is that the discussion almost always focuses on how to manage the relationship after a parent dies. Inve …
Even for those of us who see the market as a mostly cyclical, reliable environment, the past decade or so has been quite a wake-up call. While many portfolios have seen a recovery since 2008, most inv …
