The “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”
November 3, 2017: Yesterday House Republicans released details of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (link: Tax Bill). The plan calls for steep tax cuts in business tax rates, an eventual repeal of the estate tax, a reduction in the number of individual income tax...
Despite Uncertainty, Still Healthy!
Despite the lingering uncertainty and questions related to global policy: Legislative, Monetary (the Fed) and Foreign, the market has continued to grind higher, further strengthening the argument that despite the negative and uneasy sentiment, markets and global...
Social Security: 2% Rise in 2018 – the biggest increase since 2012
October 16, 2017: The US Government announced on Friday that Social Security checks are going up 2 percent in 2018, which is the first substantial raise in years. The raise is a cost of living adjustment (COLA) that’s meant to keep up with higher costs of everything...
Stick With What’s Trendy
The first half of the year delivered superior returns for the US Stock Market as measured by the S&P 500 (+9.3%), but as we entered into the doldrums of Summer, that torrid pace slowed down considerably. June was a relatively flat month and the first few weeks of...
Frankie Says Relax
It's become a common theme in our newsletters where we like to remind investors (as well as ourselves sometimes) to take a step back from the headline news to examine where we really are in the current Bull Market cycle. While the news is constantly talking about a...
The Year of Surprises
2016 was a year in which political surprises dominated global headlines. From Brexit to Donald Trump, populism gained momentum around the world shocking insiders, giving hope to outsiders, and leaving market pundits to figure out what this all means for the future....
The Long and Short of It
As John Maynard Keynes so eloquently put in his book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” nearly 80 years ago, investing is about the long term. If we just thought of investing like so many other long term focuses in our lives, we would all no doubt...
Toro Bravo – “Fighting Bull”
Overall, market fundamentals are in good but not great shape. Worldwide economies are slowing and uncertainty continues to dominate headlines, but it's not a reason to head for the hills. In addition, with a backdrop of continued low interest rates (either next to...
“Brexit” – What does it mean?
Here's what happened: Yesterday, UK voters elected to leave the European Union (EU) – the “Brexit”. As a result, market volatility has increased sharply. While the “Brexit” referendum won last night, the process of leaving will be long and arduous. Many are...
A “V” Market
“V” is for the volatility that the market experienced in the first quarter. It’s also the shape which the S&P formed over that same time period. The first half of the quarter consisted of wild daily swings and a sharp decline (down 11%), while wild daily swings...