I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving, and that you have finally recovered from all the food! I’m sending this week’s market commentary from sunny Orlando. I was asked by the CFP Board to serve as a Subject Matter Expert to assist in determining the cut score for the upcoming CFP exam in the spring. Don’t worry – I’m still monitoring the markets each day, and will be returning to the office Wednesday. [...]
Surprisingly, we saw a positive week in the markets, though there was little volume. The returns were surprising because of all the continued bad news coming out of Europe. Belgium’s biggest bank, Dexia, is going to be bailed out and partly nationalized by the French and Belgium governments, Italy and Spain were both downgraded, and a large number of British banks were downgraded. Earnings season kicks-off this week, which should give investors a glimpse into [...]
This past week could not have ended sooner. The big news of the week was the Fed's announcement of the much anticipated “Operation Twist II.” The Fed will be selling $400 billion in short-term treasuries and buying the same amount in long-term treasuries. This left the market sour as investors were looking for more purchasing of bonds - not a net zero. I think of other great importance is they acknowledged the significant downside risk [...]
This past week the markets rose considerably on rumor, after rumor, after rumor. It seems investors are dying of thirst for anything that might kick the “European banking/sovereign debt crisis can” down the road further. It is very hard to imagine that any gains in the market are not going to be very short-term in nature. The following quote from Former Prime Minister of England, Gordon Brown, who just so happens to be the [...]
This past week was a rocky week that ended in a sharp selloff over Thursday and Friday. The sharp decline in global stocks was mostly precipitated by the ongoing nightmare that is Europe. One very notable event this past week was the fall of the last safe haven - the Swiss Franc. The Swiss National bank (SNB) has done its very best to avoid devaluing their currency while all other currencies are in a race [...]
What an interesting week we had on many fronts- an earthquake and hurricane on the east coast, Buffett bailing out another bank, and Bernanke’s speech. The first two didn’t have much bearing on those of us in the Midwest, but the effects of the second two remain to be seen as trading opens on Monday. I’ll share my thoughts on those below… Buffett’s “Investment” in Bank of America Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway decided to bailout [...]
Global markets got a burst of energy this past week from the prospects of relief to the extreme stress in Europe. It is likely we will see some agreement from our fearful leaders on the debt ceiling debate in the very near future, which will likely be greeted with some short-term market upturn. I believe any debt ceiling agreement will bring short-lived market relief since the recent, global economic reports have had short-lived upside. This response [...]
It was almost a good week. The market slid into Wednesday, and then got a pop from the Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was testifying before Congress and indicated that the door on additional stimulus, via bond purchases, was still open. The stock market briefly took off on this news, but trailed off by days-end. Thursday was welcomed with more from the Fed Chairman; this time though, the Bernanke stated that [...]
There is a lot of hype about refinancing your mortgage and you’ll often hear statements like, “Rates have never been lower!” The truth is, interest rates are low right now (and Ben Bernanke stated in late June that he expects they’ll stay low for a while). However, even when they’re at their lowest, refinancing depends on your personal situation. While it’s important to talk to a mortgage expert (preferably not the person/institution who would be [...]
Total Returns % 1 Week YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.43% +10.65% NASDAQ Composite +1.89% +8.32% S&P 500 Index +1.96% +8.43% Russell 2000 +2.32% +10.42% U.S. Aggregate Bond Index +0.66% +0.67% MSCI All Country World +2.47% +8.29% Source: Yahoo! Finance. Data through 4-29-11 The final week of April finished on a high note, making April the best month for stocks year-to-date. The strong performance was the result of strong corporate earnings, continued low interest rates, [...]