Blog
Weekly Market Commentary September 26, 2022
Central bank tightening sparked recession fears. Last week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised the federal funds rate for the fifth time this year. During 2022, the Fed has lifted its benchmark rate from near zero to 3.12 percent....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 19, 2022
It’s open to interpretation. Jackson Pollock was an action painter. He poured, dropped, and dripped paint onto horizontal canvases. Some people look at his work and wonder why it’s highly valued. Others find deep...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 12, 2022
Central banks are hawkish. Stocks popped higher, anyway. Last week, despite signs that inflation is slowing, U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) officials emphasized their commitment to tightening monetary policy to lower inflation....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 6, 2022
You may have heard this one: Don’t fight the Fed.The Fed is the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. Among other things, the Fed influences monetary conditions in pursuit of price stability and full employment. As...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 29, 2022
Markets were tuned to the signals coming from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. During World War II, United States armed forces often relied on high-powered radio sets to communicate. When determining whether transmissions were garbled by...
Read MoreShow All
Weekly Market Commentary August 22, 2022
Is this a bear market rally or a new bull market? Investment professionals are in the middle of a heated debate. Since mid-June, United States stock markets have moved higher, regaining about $7 trillion as many investors who had...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 15, 2022
Rally caps were waving. In recent weeks, investors have embraced the idea that economic data will persuade the Federal Reserve to slow the pace of rate hikes. Last week’s inflation data fanned their enthusiasm. The big...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 8, 2022
The strength of the United States economy continues to surprise. If you have ever been camping, you may have banked your campfire by covering the hot coals with ash. It’s a process that keeps the coals burning low so the...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 1, 2022
Investors thought they heard a dovish note from the Federal Reserve and markets rallied. Last week, we learned from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that economic growth in the United States slowed for the second consecutive...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 25, 2022
A lot of people are worried that a recession may be in our future. Some think it may already be here. Unemployment is low (3.6 percent), and inflation is high (9.1 percent). Both tend to occur when an economy is experiencing...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 18, 2022
Nobody is happy, but Americans are feeling more optimistic. Last week, headlines blasted the new inflation numbers. Prices were up more than 9% year-over-year in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Consumer...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 5, 2022
The first six months of 2022 have earned a place in history books. 2022 is likely to become part of the lore passed from generation to generation. Stories will be told about this bear market, as well as the remarkable political...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 27, 2022
Last week, bad news was good news. Consumers were feeling blue in June, according to the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey. The survey scored sentiment at 50, which was the lowest level on record. Surveys of...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 20, 2022
The fight against inflation intensified. Last week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) delivered a message that it is serious about fighting inflation. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lifted the federal funds target rate by 0.75...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 13, 2022
Inflation is proving to be far more tenacious than markets had hoped. The idea that inflation peaked in March was put to rest last week when the Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that inflation accelerated in May. Overall,...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 6, 2022
How strong is the United States economy? That’s the question investors were mulling after last week’s jobs report. More jobs were created in May than economists expected, and the labor force participation rate...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary May 31, 2022
Investors reassessed and markets bounced. Last week, major U.S. stock indices moved higher for the first time in weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 6.2 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 6.6 percent,...
Read More
Tax Prep Checklist: Everything You Need to Be Ready for Tax Season
Read More
A Season of Giving: 5 Different Ways To Give During the Holidays
Read More
Retirement Mistakes to Fix Before the Holidays
Spend as much time fixing your mistakes as you do planning the holidays You probably spend more time planning your holiday gathering than preparing for your golden years. As a result, you make basic mistakes in trying to fund your...
Read MoreThanks and Giving: How You Make a Difference on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a day to extend the goodwill that the holiday season may bring to help others. With so many in need, the holiday season is a reminder to help those less fortunate. Whether you want to donate your time or contribute...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 29, 2021
The Markets COVID-19 strikes again. Coronavirus cases have been on the rise in Europe, climbing from about 700,000 new cases a week in September to 2.6 million a week in November, reported Richard Pérez-Peña and Jason...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 22, 2021
The Markets Thinking about the possibilities. The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index finished last week slightly higher and has gained about 6 percent during the past 25 days; however, investors have curbed their enthusiasm. The...
Read More
2021 Now Has The Second Most New Highs Ever
The incredible bull run of 2021 continues, with the S&P 500 Index only 0.02% away from the 66th all-time high this calendar year, tied with (for now) the 65 set in 1964 and behind only the record 77 set in 1995. “We’ve run...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 15, 2021
The Markets Economists like to joke that inflation is just right when no one notices it. Last week, investors noticed it. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is a measure of inflation, rose 0.9 percent in October and 6.2 percent over...
Read More
Reasons To Be Thankful
As we reach the home stretch of 2021, there is a lot to be thankful for. Stocks are having an amazing year, the economy is improving, and COVID-19 trends are going the right direction. Let’s look at some reasons to be thankful....
Read More
2021 Year-End Planning for Retirees
For some, 2021 has flown by—and as we approach the last quarter of the year, it's a good time to begin planning for the next one. Year-end planning is especially important for retirees and those hoping to retire in 2021 or 2022....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 8, 2021
Feeling bullish… Investor bullishness ticked higher last week on all four investor sentiment gauges tracked by Barron’s. Investor optimism may have been fanned by positive financial and economic news. For example, last...
Read More
5 Things That Might Spook Markets
With Halloween over the weekend, what better to write about this week than what scares us? If our positive near-term market outlook proves to be overly optimistic, we believe one—or perhaps more than one—of these five...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 1, 2021
The Markets The road to recovery is slow and bumpy. Last week, we learned that economic growth slowed in the third quarter as a new wave of COVID-19 surged across the United States, reported The Bureau of Economic Analysis. Gross...
Read More
Understanding the Investor Fear Index: the VIX
The VIX has seen a downward trend so far in 2021 and for October Market pundits often trip over themselves trying to determine the exact direction and extent of the market’s future movements. And as we approach Halloween, the...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary October 25, 2021
The Markets It’s MESSI! No, this commentary is not about Lionel Messi, the Argentine soccer phenom who is widely regarded one of the greatest footballers of all time. However, it is about something that economists say may be as...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary October 18, 2021
Don’t get spooked! Barron’s Big Money Poll is an exclusive survey of market sentiment among professional investors. Last week, Nicholas Jasinski reported on 2021’s findings: “America’s money managers are...
Read More
Understanding the Estate Planning Process
A well-structured estate plan can be invaluable to you and your family. It is common for people to put off planning their estates. After all, no one wants to anticipate his or her own death. In addition, many people may believe that...
Read More
Long Term Care Insurance: The Importance of Annual Reviews
Long term care insurance is just like any other piece of your financial puzzle. Periodic monitoring can help ensure your insurance continues to meet its desired objective. An annual review provides an opportunity for you to re-examine...
Read More
Third Quarter Earnings Season Preview
We have used most of the superlatives we know to describe corporate America’s stunning performances over the past two earnings seasons. Despite lofty expectations, results exceeded estimates by huge margins. We expect solid...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary October 11, 2021
The Markets The word “jouncy” may have started life as a combination of bouncy and jolting – and it’s a pretty good way to describe what happened to stock markets last week. The week started with the Standard &...
Read More
Bond Market Showing Signs of Worry Over Debt Ceiling
The debt limit—commonly called the debt ceiling—is the maximum amount of debt that the Treasury Department can issue to pay its, already committed, financial obligations. The amount is set through Congress and has been...
Read More
Financial Planning at Every Age
In 2013, a Gallup poll found that only about one in every three U.S. households maintained a budget.1 A 2021 survey of 1,000 Americans found that 80% now say they have a budget.2 Americans are budgeting more due to the pandemic....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary October 4, 2021
The Markets September strikes again… If you look back over the last 20 years, September has been the worst performing month for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to Nasdaq. This year, the S&P 500 dropped 4.8...
Read More
Is the Infrastructure Plan a Catalyst for Lower Muni Yields?
The municipal market continues to be a relative bright spot for core fixed income investors. While most of the other “safe” parts of the core fixed income universe have generated negative returns this year, the national...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 27, 2021
The Markets Central banks have a lot of influence on investors, markets and economies. For the last year or so, the Federal Reserve has been purchasing $120 billion of bonds every month to ensure United States markets remained liquid...
Read More
Leading Indicators Show Optimism For Domestic Economy
On Thursday, September 23, the Conference Board released its August 2021 report detailing the latest reading for the Leading Economic Index (LEI), a composite of ten data series that tend to lead changes in economic activity. Many...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 20, 2021
The Markets In recent weeks, bullish sentiment has drifted lower like sediment settling after a storm. Every month, Bank of America (BofA) surveys global asset managers. The most recent survey, which was conducted in early September,...
Read More
Inflation Shows Signs Of Moderating
After a crazy summer of nosebleed inflation readings, we may finally be starting to see signs of transitory inflation. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the August Consumer Price Index (CPI) data this morning, which came in...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 13, 2021
The Markets The Delta variant could take a toll on economic growth. There was some good news last week. The 7-day moving average of COVID-19 cases in the United States declined. The bad news was that the rate of infection remained...
Read More
Four Financial Planning Essentials to Ease Your Retirement Fears
When it comes to planning for retirement, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Putting together a financial strategy can be complicated at any time of life, what with changing regulations, ups and downs in the market, and disagreements...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary September 7, 2021
The Markets Stagflation isn’t trending, but it was mentioned in quite a few headlines last week. Stagflation is a portmanteau of ‘stagnation’ and ‘inflation.’ It occurs when a country experiences slow...
Read More
Grant Peace of Mind with a Financial Inventory
Suppose, during the middle of the workday, you receive an urgent phone call. It is the local hospital informing you that your elderly, widowed father has been the victim of a serious car accident and lies unconscious in the emergency...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 30, 2021
The Markets “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder,” advised the Persian poet Rumi. Last week, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s words helped grow the week’s...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 23, 2021
The Markets Markets were shaken last week by a potent cocktail of central bank tapering and economic growth concerns mixed with coronavirus and a splash of the new Chinese privacy law. On Wednesday, the minutes of the United States...
Read More
How Are Workers Preparing for Retirement?
In general, workers seem to begin preparing for retirement almost as soon as they get their first job. However, according to the 2021 Retirement Confidence Survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), retirement...
Read More
A Closer Look At The High Yield Muni Market
As mentioned in the most recent Muni Market Monitor, high yield muni funds have accumulated $24 million of net inflows year to date, representing ~20% of total inflows to the total municipal category. With the prospects of higher...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 16, 2021
What is the most important driver of economic growth in the United States? The most common way to measure economic output is Gross Domestic Product or GDP. It’s the value of all goods and services produced in our country over a...
Read More
Inflation Still High But Moderating
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its July inflation report showing that the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5% month-over-month and 5.4% year-over-year. The core CPI, which strips out the volatile food and energy...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 9, 2021
The Markets Are we there yet? For months, investors have wondered when the Federal Reserve (Fed) might begin to “normalize” its policies, a process that will eventually lead to higher interest rates. Last week, a...
Read More
Federal Student Loan Interest Rates Set to Increase for 2021-2022
After two years of decreases, interest rates on federal student loans are set to increase almost a full percentage point for the 2021-2022 school year.1 The interest rates on federal student loans are reset each year after the May...
Read More
Did You Know Stocks Historically Peak in Early August?
Hard to believe, but we are in August already! The good news is stocks are still firmly in a bull market, but the bad news is the calendar is a potential worry now. As shown in the LPL Chart of the Day, August and September have been...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary August 2, 2021
The Markets The Chinese dragon cast a shadow over free trade and foreign investment last week. For decades, investors have recognized the investment potential of China. Since the country opened to foreign trade and investment in 1979,...
Read More
Services Consumption Lifts GDP Growth
Lofty expectations for second quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth were left somewhat wanting as a decent headline number fell short of expectations. Peering under the hood, though, we think this is still a fairly solid report....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 26, 2021
The Markets Shortest ever. Last week, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) finally announced the official dates for the recession that occurred in 2020. Economic activity peaked in February 2020 and bottomed in April 2020....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 19, 2021
The term “peak growth” has become almost as popular as the comedy show Ted Lasso. Peak growth is a catchphrase with the potential to mislead. When the term is applied to the U.S. economy, it does not mean the United States...
Read More
Investing in Your Vacation
Why do most avoid this important investment? Why do so many of us not use our vacation days? Salespeople talk about “leaving money on the table.” Well, employees leave vacation on the table. And the cost to us is...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 12, 2021
The Markets There was a gapers’ block in financial markets last week as equity investors slowed to see what the United States Treasury bond market was up to. U.S. Treasury bonds rallied last week. Yields on 10-year Treasuries...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary July 6, 2021
The Markets The world is about halfway back to normal. The Economist developed the Global Normalcy Index (GNI) to measure the post-pandemic return to normal. In March 2020, the GNI was 35 overall, with 100 being the normal pre-pandemic...
Read More
Financial Planning After Losing a Spouse
Losing a spouse, whether through death or divorce, can be devastating both emotionally and financially. The loss can take months or even years to adjust to since there is no way to prepare for death or divorce despite having discussed...
Read More
Three Things That Worry Us
Markets are off to a strong start this year, with the S&P 500 Index up about 14% so far. However, most of those gains came early in the year, and many stocks have stagnated over recent months. While we remain overweight on stocks...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 28, 2021
What begins with the letter “I”? Infrastructure is essential and sometimes taken for granted. Pipes carry drinking water to our homes, offices, and healthcare facilities, and carry away sewage and wastewater. Highways,...
Read More
Connecting the Dots on the Recent Bond Market Price Action
The “dot plots” are slowly becoming the new phrase of the year after the July 16 Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting. As a reminder, the dot plots represent the expected path of short-term interest rates by Fed members. Each dot...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 21, 2021
The Markets Is that a hawk? The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) met last week. They get together eight times a year to review current economic and financial conditions, assess risks to price stability and economic growth,...
Read More
The Great Wealth Transfer: Is Your Family Prepared?
Over the next twenty years, a wealth transfer will occur that exceeds $30 trillion as the Baby Boomer generation passes the remainder of their wealth to the Millennials and subsequent generations. The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are...
Read More
Why Inflation Worries Likely Just Peaked
As nearly everyone knows by now, inflation has soared the past few months, with the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming in at 5.0% year-over-year, the highest since 2008, while the core CPI (excluding energy and food) was 3.8%, the...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 14, 2021
The Markets It’s transitory. It’s not transitory. It’s transitory. It’s not transitory. Media analysts were plucking the inflation daisy petals last week. On Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the...
Read More
Munis Are Expensive but Technicals Remain Favorable
While many of the taxable markets have generated negative returns this year, both the high quality and high yield municipal markets have generated positive returns (no guarantees that will continue, of course). State and local...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 7, 2021
Pulling the economy out of the shed. If you’ve ever stored tools or machinery in a shed or garage for an extended period of time, you know they often need some care and repair to function properly. The same appears to be true of...
Read More
Main Street Sentiment Strongest in Over a Decade
The U.S. economy is opening up and overall sentiment on Main Street is the strongest it’s been since our earliest analysis in 2005, according to LPL Research’s proprietary Beige Book Barometer (BBB). The result is based on...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary June 1, 2021
The Markets Are we at a tipping point? One side effect of the pandemic was a collapse in demand for oil, which led to “the largest revision to the value of the oil industry’s assets in at least a decade,” reported...
Read More
The Relationship Between Treasury Yields and Mortgage Rates
Mortgage rates are still around all-time lows but they may be headed higher. The 30-year national average mortgage rate hit an all-time low of 2.82% back in February, but with the U.S. economic recovery in full swing, mortgage rates...
Read More
How Can You Smooth the Intergenerational Transfer of a Family Business?
If you own a business, you may have spent years dreaming of passing along the business to your children, nieces and nephews, or other family members after you retire. However, transferring a family business—and its ability to...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary May 24, 2021
The Markets What do markets hate? They hate uncertainty, and recently there has been plenty of it. Some of the questions plaguing economists and pundits include: Why aren’t people returning to work? Americans, like people in...
Read More
When’s the Right Time to Retire?
Retirement is inevitable, but knowing exactly when to do so is often unclear. No matter when you actually begin your retirement, you’ll benefit from planning your post-work life as early as possible. According to Gallup, the...
Read More
Where to Invest with Higher Inflation
Inflation is all the rage after last week’s much hotter than expected inflation numbers. Our base case remains that this period of higher inflation will be transitory, as many of the forces that have kept a lid on inflation over...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary May 17, 2021
The Markets Uncle Inflation is here. Will he overstay his welcome? Ever since the financial crisis, central banks have pursued expansionary monetary policies to encourage reflation and avoid deflation. Well, it’s taken some time,...
Read More
Hot Inflation Data Jolts Investors
For nearly a year, investors have had the late spring/early summer months circled on their calendars for a potential jump in inflation. Base effects from rolling off weak data a year ago held the promise of eye-popping year-over-year...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary May 10, 2021
The Markets Like a gender reveal gone wrong, last week’s employment report delivered an unexpected surprise. Economists estimated 975,000 new jobs would be created in April. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)...
Read More
5 Investment Considerations for Small Business Owners
If you're a small business owner, many of the best practices employed by individual investors are also available to you (of course!), but you also have some additional options and factors to weigh while creating your investment plans....
Read More
April Market Insights – Economic Revival Signs Are At Hand
Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities This month provided another set of positive results for the U.S. major market indexes. The top performer was the Nasdaq, rebounding from last month’s lagging...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary May 3, 2021
The MarketsIt’s Spring and economic recovery is in the air. Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported the U.S. economy grew at a 6.4 percent annualized rate for the first three months of 2021. While that’s good...
Read More
Here Comes Sell In May
“The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day. When the sun is out and the wind is still, you’re one month on in the middle of May.” American Poet Robert Frost One of the best known...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary April 26, 2021
The Markets It wasn’t just the price of pork chops. Last week, as investors weighed the news, strong corporate earnings were offset by higher grocery prices and rising numbers of global coronavirus cases. Solid corporate earnings...
Read More
Twin Deficits and the US Dollar
It was a particularly challenging year for the greenback in 2020, where the world’s reserve currency acted as a “safe haven” asset at the height of the March 2020 market volatility, only to fall over the remainder of...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary April 19, 2021
The Markets Where are Treasury bonds going? The direction of bond yields is influenced by investors’ expectations for economic growth, among other factors. When economic growth is expected to weaken, bond yields tend to move...
Read More
Quarterly Market Insights – Economic Recovery, Redux
Index Performance View enlarged chart. U.S. and International Equities This quarter provided positive results for all major market indexes. The top performer and standout was the US small cap Russell 2000, returning over 12% for the...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary April 12, 2021
The Markets Investors didn’t stumble over inflation last week. Why not? Inflation – rising prices of goods and services – can be measured in a variety of ways. For example, the Consumer Price Index considers changes...
Read More
Key Considerations as You Start Receiving Social Security Benefits
As your retirement draws closer, you will probably start to have lots of questions such as: How much Social Security will I receive? When should I retire? How will I know when to retire? Do I have enough saved? What will I need to do...
Read More
Raising Forecasts Again: Learn Why
Daily Insights U.S. stocks point higher after employers added the most jobs in seven months. Several major European markets are closed for the holiday. Japanese and Korean markets climbed overnight, while China and Hong Kong were...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary April 5, 2021
The Markets Zoom, zoom, zoom. Big economies tend to recover from recessions about as quickly as semi-trucks accelerate from stop lights. In other words, recovery tends to be slow. That may not be the case this time. “Everything...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary March 29, 2021
The Markets Last week, unemployment claims were looking good and consumers were feeling good. The number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits declined. Just 684,000 people filed claims during the week of March 20,...
Read More
Why Big GDP Prints Aren’t Always Good For Stocks
Our friends at Goldman Sachs recently announced a 2021 growth target for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 8% (Q4/Q4). Should this happen, it would be the biggest annual increase in GDP since 1951. Of course, last year was the worst year...
Read More
Tax Day for Individuals is Extended to May 17th
Ask yourself whether there is any real benefit to waiting to file your taxesThe U.S. Department of the Treasury is delaying the April 15th deadline to file and pay taxes until May 17th, giving individuals and businesses another month...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary March 22, 2021
The Markets What are professional asset managers thinking? Bank of America recently published the results of its March global asset managers’ survey, which polls 220 professional investors responsible for about $630 billion in...
Read More
That $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Might Cause Inflation
Watch the 10-year and oil because inflation eats away at retirement income The current job market landscape is a warning sign of how painful the U.S. economy is for many, as over 745,000 Americans filed for first time-unemployment...
Read More
No Surprises From The Fed | Market Update
The Federal Reserve (Fed) wrapped up its two-day meeting There were no surprises as the Fed upgraded growth and inflation expectations. Monetary policy was left unchanged with the Fed funds target rate remaining at 0-0.25% and the...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary March 15, 2021
The Markets Investors had a lot to be enthusiastic about last week. Major stock indices in the United States soared, finishing the week higher and setting new records along the way, reported Al Root of Barron’s. There was plenty...
Read More
The Nasdaq Moves To A Correction; Why That Could Be Good News
“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” -Yogi Berra The Nasdaq officially moved into correction territory, down more than 10% from the all-time high. It took only 15 trading days to do this, one...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary March 8, 2021
The Markets Neanderthal DNA may make people more – or less – susceptible to COVID-19, reported The Economist. It all depends on whether you have the genes and, if you do, which DNA string you inherited. No matter what your...
Read More
Fourth Quarter Earnings Boom
Here Comes The Earnings Boom LPL Research reviews an incredible earnings season and speculates on a potentially strong earnings rebound for 2021 and beyond. Find out more in today’s Weekly Market Commentary, available at 1 p.m....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary March 1, 2021
The Markets Students of financial markets may have noted a historically unusual event last week. On Thursday, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes briefly matched the dividend yield for the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index....
Read More
Three Charts You Need to See
March is right around the corner and with it is a harsh reminder of one year ago when everything stopped. As we inch closer to a lot of reminders about March 2020, here are three charts that have caught our attention recently. First...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary February 22, 2021
The Markets It’s a contrarian’s dream come true. Contrarian investors like to buck the trend. They buy when other investors are selling and sell when others are buying. Last week, Bank of America (BofA) delivered a...
Read More
Tax Identity Theft Awareness - Protecting Yourself from Tax Identity Theft
Tax identity theft is when someone steals your Social Security Number, files a tax return with your number, and directs a refund to their own bank account. In other cases, this type of identity theft may involve a scam artist calling...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary February 16, 2021
The Markets Way back, when radio disk jockeys played 45-rpm vinyl singles, the A-side of a disk was the song the record company was promoting and the other side – the flip side – held a song that sometimes had an equal or...
Read More
Why Bulls Will Like The Year Of The Ox
“Bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered.” Old Wall Street saying. The Chinese New Year (often called the Lunar New Year) will kick off Friday, February 12, and with it will begin the Year of the Ox....
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary February 8, 2021
The Markets It’s not a black diamond ski run yet, but the yield curve for U.S. Treasuries is steeper than it has been in a while. A yield curve is the line on a graph showing yields for different maturities of bonds. Yield curves...
Read More
As Goes January, So Goes The Year
Stocks got off to a nice start in 2021, until the late January selloff, as everyone got GameStop fever. Should bulls worry about what a down January might mean for the rest of 2021? There’s an old adage on Wall Street that...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary February 1, 2021
The Markets They say people watching the same event often see different things. That seems to have been the case last week when share prices of a few companies experienced tremendous volatility. Some cast the events as a David vs....
Read More
How Stocks Perform in a President’s First Year
2021 kicks off the first year of a new four-year presidential cycle. One of the most popular questions we’ve received lately is how have stocks performed historically during this political year. For starters, the S&P 500 Index...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary January 25, 2021
The Markets Last week, as COVID-19 vaccination efforts continued, there was speculation about stock market corrections and asset bubbles. On Sunday morning, Bloomberg reported 63 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary January 19, 2021
The Markets Investors were rocked by economic data showing the economy hit the brakes hard in December. Last week, major U.S. stock indices decelerated as investors gaped at the economic damage caused by the rising number of...
Read More
How Financial Asset Management May Help Investors Stay the Course
Most people who decide to purchase stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other investment vehicles do so understanding that there are risks associated with investing, but believing that the potential growth they may realize over time...
Read More
The New IRS Tax Rates and Deductions for 2021
Amidst all the pandemic news and 2020 election drama, many might have missed that the IRS also quietly published new 2021 tax rates in late October and a there are plenty of changes that will impact taxpayers in 2021. While it’s...
Read More
Key Tax Deadlines for 2021
While the 2020 tax year saw some significant changes to filing deadlines due to the effects of the global pandemic, the 2021 tax season seems to be set to be on track with normal filing deadlines. With the pandemic still in sight, it...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary January 11, 2021
The Markets The event at the United States Capitol building had a resounding impact around the world, but it didn’t deter global stock markets. Last week, investors weighed the violent disruption of America’s 2020...
Read More
COVID-19 Stimulus, Round Two: What Should You Know?
After months of intense debate, the House and Senate voted to pass a second COVID-19 economic stimulus bill and the President has signed it into law.1 At a total cost of $900 billion, this 5,600-page bill1 contains everything from...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary January 4, 2021
The Markets Last week was the cherry on top of a turbulent year for investors. After the $900 billion fiscal stimulus bill was signed on Sunday, major U.S. stock indices moved higher. The Washington Post reported, “The S&P...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary December 21, 2020
The Markets Congress is at $900 billion, will they hear $1.4 trillion, $1.4 trillion, governments at $900 billion, who’ll go $1.4 trillion, $1.4 trillion… The stimulus auction continued last week. Early on Sunday, The New...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary December 14, 2020
The Markets When it comes to beverages, frothy can be delicious. In what may be the least inspiring description of fizzy drinks ever written, a group of food engineers explained, “Aeration in beverages, which is manifested as...
Read More
IRS Makes Annual Inflation Adjustments For 2021
The Internal Revenue Service announced annual inflation adjustments for the 2021 tax year for more than 60 tax provisions, including standard deductions and the tax rate schedules. More details can be found at “Revenue Procedure...
Read More
Outlook 2021
More than most years , it’s hard to look ahead to the next year, to 2021, without looking back at 2020. A global pandemic, a massive economic collapse, a bear market, a surprisingly sharp reversal, a hotly contested election...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary December 7, 2020
The Markets When is bad news good news? Take a look at last week. Major stock indices in the United States hit all-time highs on Friday, despite a lackluster employment report and a surge in COVID-19 cases, reported Lewis Krauskopf of...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 30, 2020
The Markets Last week, vaccine optimism immunized investors against signs of economic weakness. In previous commentaries we’ve written about narrative economics, which holds that popular stories may affect individual and...
Read More
30,000 Reasons To Be Thankful
As 2020 winds down, it has been an extremely tough year on all of us. Still, there are many reasons to be thankful and today we will share some reasons investors should be thankful. Stocks have had one of the largest reversals ever in...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 23, 2020
The Markets The U.S. economy is like a semi-trailer truck. No one likes being stuck behind a semi at a stoplight because big trucks don’t go from zero to 60 in 2.5 seconds. Neither does the U.S. economy. When the pandemic brought...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 16, 2020
The Markets Vaccine can be a powerful word. It’s worth 14 points in Scrabble (42 on a triple word square) and, last week, it was worth a whole lot more than that to financial markets. On Monday, a pharmaceutical company and a...
Read More
Is Masters Golf A Bogey Or Hole-In-One Market Predictor?
This year’s Masters Golf Tournament teed off Thursday at the Augusta National Course in Georgia. While there will be some familiar sights as the players compete for the coveted green jacket, it will also be a year unlike any...
Read More
Weekly Market Commentary November 9, 2020
The Markets It’s said markets hate uncertainty, but that wasn’t the case last week. Despite tremendous uncertainty about the outcome of the United States election, major domestic and international stock indices moved higher...
Read More
End of Year (EOY) Deadlines Checklist
2020 has been one of the most unprecedented years in recent history, but some things—like tax contributions and retirement deadlines—don't change much, if at all. And with the uncertainty surrounding just about everything,...
Read More
To-Do Item for 2020: Beneficiary Reviews for Current Clients
Many clients may fastidiously plan the path they want their assets to take, but not give their beneficiary information the attention it needs and deserves. Designating the best beneficiaries is essential for proper asset planning, and...
Read More
Election 2020 Is Undecided
The American people have voted, casting a record number of ballots under extraordinary circumstances, which is a testament to the enduring resilience of our democracy. Determining the outcome of our elections is a process, but it...
Read More
An Election Pattern You Might Not Know About
With Election Day a mere five days away, we at LPL Research thought we would add one last election forecaster to the mix of what we’ve presented over the last several months—as much because of what it might tell us about...
Read More
Advanced Tax Planning Ideas - Lumping Charitable Gifts
If you are one of the 90% of taxpayers who don't itemize deductions, you cannot claim a federal deduction for charitable donations. To get past this issue, some people lump their charitable gifts together. Wondering how to claim a...
Read More
Charitable Giving
When developing your estate plan, you can do well by doing good. Leaving money to charity rewards you in many ways. It gives you a sense of personal satisfaction, and it can save you money in estate taxes. A few words about transfer...
Read More
Tax Benefits of Making a QCD
At the end of 2015, Congress permanently extended the rule allowing taxpayers to exclude from taxable income certain individual retirement account (IRA) distributions made directly to a qualified charity. Otherwise known as qualified...
Read More