My Friend Gandalf

As a financial advisor, I’m often asked where the markets are headed.  Unfortunately, my crystal ball, affectionately named “Gandalf,” has been cracked and in the shop for years;  frankly, I’m beginning to think I’ll never see Gandalf again.   So, I’m forced to seek guidance from my second favorite source – data.  It turns out…

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Market Update – August 5th, 2024

After fielding some questions from clients over the past few days, I wanted to provide a quick update on what’s going on in the markets. What’s Happening In The Markets and Why Are They So Volatile? Today the markets continued last week’s selloff, on the heels of weaker-than-expected employment numbers Friday, and an over 12% loss in the…

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Volatility 2.0

picture about market volatility

An investor’s inclination to sell or buy is strongly inversely correlated to the proper time to do so. If your investment objectives and time horizon have not changed (other than being one day older), studies have consistently shown that your best course of action, difficult as it may be, is to remain invested. 

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2019…A Year to Remember

2019 a year to remember

As is often the case following a negative year, (the US Markets lost over 5% in 2018), 2019 was (globally) a banner year with total US Market returns over 30%, International markets over 20% and even the US and Global Bond market’s joining in the celebration with returns of over 8.5% and 7.5% respectively.   In fact, US Stocks were THE place to be in 2019; they were the tickets to Hamilton, U2 and BTS (Boomers, find the nearest Millennial and ask them) wrapped up into one beautiful gift basket!

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Riding High… 2Q2019 Review

computer screen of denver financial advisor Jake Milder

The sky is falling mentality has just pushed the stock market to record highs. That the housing market is slowing, wages are stagnant-or negative in real terms, and you can get a higher return investing your money in 3-month government debt than 10 year debt (yield curve inversion) doesn’t seem to matter and the markets…

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A Valentine’s Day Gift

paper markus spiske

December’s market selloff- or rather, January’s recovery, provided investors with a tremendous gift.  We now have the rare opportunity to reassess our portfolio and perhaps more importantly, our behavior and tolerance for risk, without the usual triggers for such evaluation; namely significant loss of capital. As many studies have shown, the vast majority of investors…

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2018 Market Review

wall street roberto junior

As we reflect on 2018, it is tempting to sugarcoat the year by simply reporting that it was a record-setting year for stocks – because so many investors would rather quickly forget the end results. So here are the end results: 2018 was the worst year for stocks since 2008 and only the second year…

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8 Tips for Dealing With the Equifax Fallout

computer screen of denver financial advisor Jake Milder

As you’ve probably heard, Equifax, a now-shortened leg of the oligopolistic credit agency tripod, was hacked months ago. Although the public continues to learn more bit by bit, the lights were only recently turned on- only after executives allegedly unloaded stock upon learning of the breach, though before sharing it with the public. Let’s give…

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