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...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy David Booth on the Value of Flexibility (By David Booth, Executive Chairman and Founder of Dimensional) (sic- Dimensional discusses how they handled the recent volatility in GameStop stock in their portfolios) “Our ideas are grounded in academic research, but to successfully go from whiteboard to market requires a nimble and flexible approach, with a process built to make bounded judgment calls along the way. At Dimensional, we...

Businesses, Stock Markets & the Economy   The less you look, the easier it gets. pic.twitter.com/ZuCF3Xuhd1 — Daniel Crosby (@danielcrosby) March 29, 2021 Too Much, Too Soon, Too Fast “A good summary of investing history is that stocks pay a fortune in the long run but seek punitive damages when you try to be paid sooner. Virtually all investing mistakes are rooted in people looking at long-term market returns and saying, “That’s nice, but...

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,...

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...

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...