May 15, 2017

Writing in MONEY.com, Nancy K. Schlossberg, a professor emerita of counseling and personnel services at the University of Maryland, reiterates the words of Coughlin: “Succeeding in retirement is about more than money.”¹  As part of her new book: Too Young to Be Old: Love, Learn, Work and Play as You Age, Schlossberg groups retirees into six paths. “Any of these routes can be right for you (with one exception), and thinking about retirement this way can help you get comfortable with your new identity.”

May 15, 2017

You may recall reading about the VIX Index in this space, which many view as a type of fear gauge for Wall Street.  According to a recent article in the New York Times¹, for the first time in more than 10 years, it dipped below 10, which means investors don’t anticipate an imminent market decline. (The historical average of the VIX is around 20.)  With the market near record highs, and the VIX near record lows, contrarians must be licking their lips in anticipation of the windfall they think they’ll make. Their logic: everyone is happy, so nothing good can come next. But contrarians are not always right; they just tend to take the opposing view.

May 15, 2017

If you have a smartphone, you’ve probably used it for all the obvious tasks: phone calls, text messaging, e-mail, FaceTime, directions while driving (or walking), etc. In addition, the reporters at MONEY Magazine have identified their top apps¹ to save you money while shopping.  Click to read more.

Source: Direxion Funds

May 15, 2017

By the numbers…....

• The last time that the S&P 500 was up on a total return basis for the 1^st quarter yet finished down for the full calendar year was 2002. (The S&P 500 gained 6.1% on a total return basis in Q1 2017.)

• The 75-year average growth rate of the US economy (i.e. Gross Domestic Product, or GDP) is +3.3% per year. However, the actual growth rate of the US economy has reached +3.3% or greater in only 2 of the last 16 calendar years.

By Stanley F. Ehrlich

March 31, 2017

The ongoing debate between actively managed and passively managed mutual funds has picked up steam recently. Actively managed funds are mutual funds with an investment team that seeks to buy the ‘best’ stocks for their portfolio. I have an image of the chief investment officer standing on a desk in the middle of that fund’s trading floor screaming: “Buy only winners; sell all the losers. Your bonuses depend on it!” (Maybe I need to watch the movie Wall Street to see if they actually do that.)

March 31, 2017

It was Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, who pointed out: “Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.” As it turns out, that’s especially true of your computer.

March 31, 2017

The market’s recent gains since the presidential election have led some investors to conclude that we must be approaching a market bubble. Mark Hulbert, writing in Barron’s¹, says “Not so fast.”  A recent academic paper² defines a bubble “as a price increase of at least 100% over a two-year period followed within the subsequent two years by a drop of at least 40%.” By that definition, there have only been two bubbles in our history: the market that peaked in 1929, and the dot-com bubble that peaked in 2000.

March 31, 2017

Quoting the Genworth 2016 Cost-of-Care Survey¹, AARP estimated the median daily cost for long-term care in a semi-private room in 2016. The results are surprising, though possibly depressing, depending upon where you reside.

Source: Direxion Funds

By the numbers…....

• Total credit card debt in the US dropped in January 2017 to $996 billion, the first month-over-month decrease since February 2016. The peak in credit card debt was $1.022 trillion in April 2008.

• Since 1950, there have been 58 different 10-year periods (i.e., the 10 years from 1950-1959, 1951-1960, etc.). The S&P 500 produced an average annual total return of less than +7% during 15 of the 58 decade-long periods (26% of the time). 19 of the 58 periods (33% of the time) resulted in an average annual total return of at least +14%.

By John Zeltmann

March 6, 2017

All too often, wildly swinging stock markets get a bum rap. They deprive watchful investors of sleep, prompt front-page photos of a panicked New York Stock Exchange trader, and force even the most diligent investors to consider reducing their exposure to equities.