Stocks have had a pretty bumpy ride over the last three weeks, with the S&P 500 falling exactly 10% from the September 19th high. The S&P 500 cash index, which is what you see quoted on TV and in the paper, fell almost 9.9% but the S&P 500 futures fell exactly 10.0% and turned on…
Retirement Planning, Part 3: Retirement Income from Bond Interest & Dividends
I spoke with a client earlier this week who called to make sure he’s doing everything needed to retire on time. He was recently surprised to hear that a family member who retired a few years ago needed to go back to work. My client wanted to make sure he’s on track and saving enough…
Stock Market Update –
The stock market decided to end July with some fireworks! This is the volatility I was referring to in my last post. From a timing-cycle perspective, this drop is right on course. And the futures are indicating further downside today, although things could reverse course after the monthly nonfarm payrolls report due out at 8:30 AM.…
Why I Becoming Growingly Nervous About Stocks
Volatility and the monthly high-to-low range of the S&P 500 has been shrinking the past 3 months to the point that it’s becoming “compressed” and due to breakout. Volatility looks poised to pick-up in the very near future. Companies continue to increase Merger & Acquisition (M&A) activity and stock buybacks. Both are signals that management…
What’s Catching My Eye This Week
As the stock market has climbed over the past few weeks, I’ve lightened up on some of our bigger winners simply because they’re pretty stretched at this point (sell high). But I’m also always looking for new opportunities in stuff that’s gotten roughed up in which to invest (buy low). I used the big rally…
How Long Can the Rally in Stocks Continue?
In short, things look clear to continue another year or two, and possibly longer but it’s just too tough to see out beyond that right now. I am becoming increasingly concerned about stocks in the short-term though. The Volatility Index (VIX), which measures expected volatility of the S&P 500 over the next 30 days, is…
Retirement Planning – Part 1: Saving & Investing
This is the first post of a new series I’ll be writing on retirement planning, covering everything from saving for retirement to some of the best retirement strategies I’m using today with clients. There’s a saying in financial planning that the answer to every question is always “it depends” because everyone’s situation is different. And…
And the Takeovers Continue
It was announced last night that activist investor Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital Management and Valeant Pharmaceuticals were teaming up in an attempt to takeover Allergan. Allergan, which is one of our larger growth holdings, was up 6% yesterday and is currently up another 15% today, as of this writing. I love a takeover…