Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy History Shows That Stock Gains Can Add Up After Big Declines. (Dimensional) “Sudden market downturns can be unsettling. But historically, US equity returns following sharp downturns have, on average, been positive.” Why Interest Rates Have to Stay Low For a Very Long Time (Ben Carlson) Ford vs. Tesla (Ben Carlson) Your Finances & other Wealth Management links Take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) wellbeing survey. -->Can you measure your Financial...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Watch or read-> G-7 Nations Sign Pact To Make Corporations Pay Fairer Taxes. “The pact supports a minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15% to make it more difficult for companies to avoid paying.” (AP) How the World Ran Out of Everything “Global shortages of many goods reflect the disruption of the pandemic combined with decades of companies limiting their inventories.” (The New York Times) How...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Bulls, Bears, and Long-Term Benefits of Stock Investing. “Stock returns are volatile, but nearly a century of bull and bear markets shows that the good times have outshined the bad times.” (Dimensional) Zillow ($Z) estimates home prices aren't cooling off any time soon. (zillow.com) Four lessons from the Crypto Crash including 'The 24/7 nature of crypto markets exacerbates volatility during a crisis.' (awealthofcommonsense.com) Your Finances & other Wealth Management links Why...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy New results on Work From Home (Marginal Revolution, Tyler Cowen) “COVID-19 drove a mass social experiment in working from home (WFH). We survey more than 30,000 Americans over multiple waves to investigate whether WFH will stick, and why. Our data say that 20 percent of full workdays will be supplied from home after the pandemic ends, compared with just 5 percent before. We develop evidence on...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Inflation is Here. But is it Here to Stay? (Michael Batnick) “The bad news is prices are rising. The good news is we can explain why. Matthew Klein at Barron’s wrote that “Most of that increase, however, can be attributed to a few categories that collectively account for just 13% of consumer spending.”” Your Finances & other Wealth Management links The pandemic drove these Americans into early retirement. What...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy 10 Things You Shouldn’t Care About as an Investor (Ben Carlson, CFA) Global Diversification Can Make a World of Difference (Dimensional) Your Finances & other Wealth Management links Car rental rates are through the roof: Here’s what you can do to save money (Los Angeles Times) Is travel insurance worth it now? (HuffPost.com) 8 Reasons Why Renting Isn’t “Throwing Money Away” (moneyning) The Environment & ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) Investing Visualizing...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Stock Market Returns Are Anything But Average (Ben Carlson, CFA) “From 1926-2020, the average return for the U.S. stock market was basically 10% per year. Investing in the stock market would be way easier if you could simply bank on 10% year in and year out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.1 If stock market returns were consistent each year, there would be no risk. If there was...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Dimensional at 40: Timeless Lessons from My Decades in Finance (By David Booth, Executive Chairman and Founder of Dimensional) “…I believe people keep falling into the same old traps. They might chase the latest fads and keep picking stocks. (Just in the past year, we’ve seen frenzies surrounding FAANG stocks, Tesla, and GameStop.) They might try to time markets. Too many people may have sold at the bottom of the...

Think back to April 2020. A year ago, many investors were scared, some wanting to move to cash, even as most stock markets staged remarkably strong and surprising recoveries. This year, we’re seeing many of those same investors tempted to chase all kinds of hot holdings, as now they seem to have no fear. We hope favorable markets continue. But investing is no game of chance. If you were a client of...