You want to do what you’ve dreamt about, right? Well, a client of mine is doing just that while on sabbatical, as he cleans up his gardening shed, and spends more time helping his parents get their estate in order. He’s doing the things we always think about but have a hard time actually doing. We laughed as I told him my clean garage thanks him for the inspiration. One of the topics we covered during our conversation was “the greater fool theory of investing”—how investors believe someone will buy their stocks at a higher price. That’s a sucker’s game. That’s not investing, and right now … [Read more...]

Who loves a market-rattling pandemic more than CNBC? It’s a ratings bonanza that allows them to fill the airwaves with 24/7 fear, and when there isn’t a pandemic, they fill it up with fast-money greed—sell, sell, sell, buy, buy, buy. Same old tune, different day. Imagine if you could get away from it all and take a deep breath (while drinking plenty of water to keep the coronavirus out of your lungs). No one knows what the coronavirus is going to do to the markets over the short-term. What we do know is, it’s causing plenty of investors (not you, of course) to be uncomfortable. A former … [Read more...]

Over the past 52-weeks, you’ve received over five percent on any combination of short to mid-term agency, corporate, and/or treasury bonds, and that’s not counting today’s expected bond rally. Remember, bonds tend to go up when stocks go down. As the coronavirus creates panic for stock investors (futures are way down as I write to you), bonds along with safe-haven gold are rallying. What the coronavirus will mean for stock investors this year is unknown. But what’s clearly known is many stock investors head for the exits when panicked. Your key takeaway is to make sure you have your bond … [Read more...]

Twenty years after the Tech Bubble decimated investors' savings, there are echos of it in the S&P 500. Reuters' Noel Randewich and lewis Krauskopf report: At the height of the dot-com era, technology stocks accounted for over 35% of the S&P 500’s value. Today, the tech sector accounts for about 25% of S&P 500 market capitalization, according to Refinitiv Datastream. But combining the tech sector with the communications sector, which includes Internet-related companies like Alphabet, Facebook and Netflix (NFLX.O), the group accounts for 35% of the S&P 500. There is growing … [Read more...]

Some investors "could take Apple’s warning on Monday that it won’t meet revenue expectations for the current quarter as a sign that the growth stock run is over," notes Gunjan Banerji in The Wall Street Journal. Over the long-term, he continues, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks. He writes: As they grapple with a murky outlook, investors will turn their attention this week to the Fed’s latest meeting minutes and fresh reads on manufacturing. Meanwhile, results from Walmart Inc. on Tuesday will offer new insight into the health of the consumer. The run in value stocks “was short … [Read more...]