Why 2014 May Be a Very Good Year More improvement may be in store for the economy & the stock market. Will the economy & the bull market make further strides next year? On both Wall Street and Main Street, 2013 has turned out better than many analysts expected. Will the recovery gain additional momentum in 2014, and will stocks climb even higher? Optimism is widespread. Do you remember how gloomy things got at the end of 2012? Fears about [...]
A Market to Be Thankful For Could 2013 end up being the best year for stocks since 1995? In financial terms, 2013 has been a very nice year – a year in which the economy, the housing and business sectors and the stock market have all improved. Looking back over the year to date, it is particularly amazing to see how stocks have soared in the face of many challenges – some of which proved tougher than others. Wall Street [...]
How Impatience Hurts Retirement Saving Keep calm & carry on – it may be good for your portfolio. Why do so many retirement savers underperform the market? From 1993-2012, the S&P 500 achieved a (compound) annual return of 8.2%. Across the same period, the average investor in U.S. stock funds got only a 4.3% return. What accounts for the difference?1,2 One big factor is impatience. It is expressed in emotional investment decisions. Too many people trade themselves into mediocrity – [...]
Could the Bulls Still Run Without the Fed? If the central bank ceased easing, could stocks continue their ascent? Could this bull market last with less help from the Federal Reserve? Is it propped up by the Fed’s stimulus, or strong enough to sustain itself if the central bank reduces its efforts? Some factors hint that the economy and the market may have a bit more strength than assumed, even with Q2 GDP projections being tempered. The real estate comeback [...]
What Does the Dow’s Record High Really Mean? Does it signal anything more than bullish sentiment? Next stop, 15,000? As the Dow Jones Industrial Average settled at a new all-time high of 14,253.77 on March 5, the psychological lift on Wall Street was undeniable – the market was finally back to where it was in 2007. Or was it?1 For many Americans, the Dow equals the stock market, and the stock market is a direct product of the economy. It [...]