Led by a handful of big technology stocks (and defying most expectations), the S&P 500 (Total Return) Index gained 8.74% in the quarter and is up 16.89% YTD. These gains have led socks into “bull market” territory – up 20% from its previous low reached on October 14, 2022. Large Growth is up a whopping …
Well, that was fun. It wasn’t quite the worst ever year for stocks. Thank goodness for that. But bonds had one of (if not) their worst years ever. Consequently, the role that bonds usually play in a portfolio – buffering losses in the occasional bad years for stocks – didn’t happen – and even balanced …
4th Quarter Client Note – Out with the Old. In with Secure Act 2.0 Read More »
The political football has been tossed back into the hands of workplace retirement investors who want to take their values into account in managing their portfolios. At the end of 2020, the US Department of Labor, responsible under ERISA for regulating 401Ks, changed the rules for sustainable investing, moving the goal posts for fiduciaries by …
ESG Investing Back in the Arena, Political Hot Potato Gets Tossed Again Read More »
Every spring, the bears in Colorado’s high country come out of hibernation. (In fact, we just had one – pictured below – stop by for dinner with us the other day.) Thankfully, bear markets are not quite so regular. But they do occur periodically and we are experiencing one right now. Interestingly, use of that …
When writing my client note at this time last year, we were in the vortex of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cases were exploding around the world. Hospitals were overwhelmed – or nearly so. And deaths were mounting. Social distancing had been imposed. Businesses were shuttered. There were massive layoffs, particularly in the …
The current US Department of Labor (DOL) has a bone to pick with sustainable investing; what is now colloquially called Environmental, Social & Governance or ESG investing. On June 23, 2020 the DOL issued a proposed rule that would limit the use of investments that consider ESG factors in retirement plans subject to ERISA, such …
DOL Proposed Rule Change Brings Awareness to Sustainable Investing Read More »
Welcome to whiplash land. The S&P 500 (Total Return) Index gained 8.93% in the quarter and 5.57% year-to-date. On August 18, the index reached a record high for the first time since the COVID-19 bear market began on February 19. In just 126 trading days, the fastest bear market recovery on record, the market erased …
3rd Quarter Client Note – COVID and Politics, a Potent Cocktail Read More »
The US stock market just had its best quarter in more than 20 years. (Yes, you heard that right.) Of course, that was on the heels of one of the scariest quarters in history, fueled by the Coronavirus pandemic reaching US shores in February. At its worst, on March 23, the S&P 500 was down …
There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I have quoted Vladimir Lenin in a client note. And probably the last. A great deal has indeed happened since my first post on the coronavirus pandemic, when the implications were just beginning to emerge. The public health implications …
The S&P 500 (Total Return) Index gained 9.07% in 2019’s final quarter. Bringing the advance for the year to 31.49% — and for the decade, to an average annual 13.56%. (And yet, all anybody wants to talk about is how poorly their bonds are performing. The Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index eked out a …
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