Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Four Things Everyone Needs to Know About the Markets (Ben Carlson) Excerpt-> 4. Markets are constantly changing. “The United States made up just 15% of global equity markets in 1900. Now look at it — like Pac Man eating the rest of the world. Britain’s share has shrunk by a factor of six. Germany and France have seen similar slippage. Then you have countries like Japan and China...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy Bull? Bear? How About a “Bunny” Market?” (Schwab) Source: Charles Schwab, Bloomberg data as of 3/12/2021. VIDEO: Market Snapshot: Chief Investment Strategist Liz Ann Sonders shares her perspective on the U.S. stock market and economy in her latest monthly video. (Schwab) Your Finances & other Wealth Management links How the Pandemic Has Changed Your Taxes. “New rules for a new reality, from stimulus payments to retirement withdrawals to unemployment insurance,...

WHAT IS ASSET ALLOCATION AND WHY DOES IT MATTER TO YOU AS AN INVESTOR? Asset allocation combines individual asset classes to build and manage a portfolio that reflects your personal goals, risk tolerance, and risk capacity. Step One: Stocks vs. Bonds – We begin by determining an appropriate balance between stocks and bonds. Bonds help you preserve your wealth, but they are unlikely to help you build a great deal more of it....

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy One year in four charts (Axios Capital author Felix Salmon) “The past year of COVID-19 has produced no shortage of spiky charts. Stocks plunged and then promptly rebounded; deaths rose and fell; employment fell and then bounced back to a level about 9 million jobs short of where we were.” Watch-> Understanding What Drives Bull Markets (Barry Ritholtz) “I spoke with Tom & Lisa about technology, why Inflation...

WHAT ARE RISK TOLERANCE AND RISK CAPACITY AND WHY DO THEY MATTER TO YOU AS AN INVESTOR? Risk tolerance and risk capacity may sound similar, but they are not the same things. What is Risk Tolerance? This is your ability, as an investor, to handle volatility and potential losses in your portfolio, or the degree of uncertainty you can handle. What is Risk Capacity? This is the amount of risk you can take, as an...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy What If Interest Rates Don’t Matter as Much as We Think? (Ben Carlson, CFA) “Just because stocks have done fine when rates have risen in the past doesn’t mean it will happen in the future. But interest rate levels, in and of themselves, aren’t the sole cause of every market movement. They are just one factor among many that impact how people allocate their assets. And maybe, just maybe, they don’t...

WHAT is an Investment Policy Statement, or IPS? Your Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is a written agreement, signed by you and your advisor when it is created, as well as whenever it is updated. It should include descriptions of the factors influencing your investment experience, such as: Designing your portfolio You & your financial situation – You and your family’s goals & timeframes. Are you adding to the portfolio, or taking...

What is asset location and why does it matter to you as an investor? Let’s begin by noting that asset location should not be confused with asset allocation, which we addressed here. The two are related, but each makes its own contribution to your investment experience. Asset allocation (as described here) is about spreading your money among different asset classes, based on the amount of market risk and expected reward inherent to each. ...

What is rebalancing? Why and when should an investor do it? “Buy low, sell high.” The expression is so familiar that it’s become a cliché. And yet, few investors actually follow this most basic rebalancing advice. Instead, they panic and sell (low) during market crises and chase already-hot stocks at premium (high) prices. Deliberate rebalancing is one of the best ways we know of to more consistently buy low and sell high while staying...

Diversification simultaneously dampens your exposure to a number of investment risks while potentially improving your overall expected returns.   What is diversification? In a general sense, diversification is about spreading your risks around, widely and globally. In investing, that means it’s more than just ensuring you have a lot of holdings, it’s also about having many different kinds of holdings. If we compare this to the adage of not putting all your eggs in...