This is a story many of you will be familiar with. You have money to invest that’s been sitting in cash. This is money you don’t expect to need or access for more than 20 years, if ever. You know that cash is likely to significantly underperform a diversified investment portfolio over the next 20+ […]
5 charts from the past week that tell an interesting story in markets and investing… 1) 1.90% … for 30 Years? The 30-Year US Treasury Yield closed at an all-time low today: 1.90%. On October 26, 1981, it closed at an all-time high of 15.21%. My how times have changed. 2) Software is eating the […]
5 charts from the past week that tell an interesting story in markets and investing… 1) Growth vs. Value The ratio of growth stocks to value stocks is at its highest level in 19 years. The top 10 holdings in the large cap growth ETF (IWF)… The top 10 holdings in the large cap value […]
When investors think about risk, 2008 is usually the first thing that comes to mind. And for good reason. It was the worst year that most investors alive today have ever experienced. With dividends included, the S&P 500 lost 37% in 2008, its largest decline since 1931 (during the Great Depression). Since the end of […]
5 charts from the past week that tell an interesting story in markets and investing… 1) All-Time Highs … Again Well, that was quick. After a brief 3% pullback on “coronavirus concerns,” the S&P 500 and other major US indices rocketed back to new all-time highs this week. For the S&P 500, it was the […]
5 charts from the past week that tell an interesting story in markets and investing… 1. Copper and Coronavirus Down 12 days in a row, this is the longest down streak in history for Copper (data going back to 1971). Who is the largest importer of Copper? You guessed it … China. Fears about the […]
What returns are you expecting from bonds over the next five years? If you’re like most investors, your answer is probably too high. Why? Because of something called recency bias, the human tendency to give more weight to the recent past in making projections about the future. And why is that a problem today? Because […]
What brings meaning to your life? There’s no more important question. But how often do we take the time to sit and actually think about it? Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and months turn into years. ‘We’ll focus on it tomorrow; there’s still plenty of time.’ And so the question remains, burning […]
Here are the charts and themes that tell the story of 2019… I. From Humble Beginnings “Bear Market. Inverted Yield Curve. Trade War. Government Shutdown. Recession.” These were just a few of the ominous buzzwords heard at the start of 2019. The S&P 500 had just suffered its worst December since the Great Depression (-9%) […]
1) Be humble or the markets will eventually find a way to humble you. Having more confidence is a good thing in many areas of life. Markets are not one of them. More confident investors tend to trade more and take on undue risk, leading to worse performance. Men are generally more confident in their […]
Compounding. It’s more than just an investing concept. It’s the idea that exponential growth is possible in many of the most important areas of life. Love and relationships, health and fitness, knowledge and wisdom, mindfulness and spirituality – all have elements that can benefit from the power of compounding. In investing, the formula for compounding […]