Is Volatility Normal?

John Noonan Uncategorized

  The short answer: yes. But let’s add some perspective. You may read a lot about volatility – or how much the market goes up and down – being the “new normal”. Another short answer: untrue. Volatility has been an integral part of the investing experience since the very beginning. As a perceived risk, it’s one of the reasons stocks have produced, and are expected to produce, higher returns than less volatile assets like bonds and cash. Risk equals reward, so they say. A client recently mentioned how the market seems to go up and down much more than in …

Can You Believe This Is Still Happening?

John Noonan Uncategorized

The article below from the Wall Street Journal tells a story that is far more common than you can imagine. It illustrates the difference between a fiduciary and a broker. Make sure you know the difference when you hire an advisor. Do they work directly for you, and are they held to the highest standard of the law to do what is right, as we are? Or do they work for a company, where they are beholden to managers, selling quotas, contracts, and stock holders? If you want to know more about the difference, and how it affects you, just …

The Election: How to Position Your Portfolio

John Noonan Uncategorized

Depending on the winner of the presidential election, there’s something you’ll absolutely want to do with your portfolio. If Clinton wins, you should… …do nothing. But on the other hand, if Trump wins, you should… …also, do nothing. Were you expecting a big secret? An actionable insight? No one knows what’s going to happen in any market, for any reason, at any time. Period. If someone tells you otherwise, they either don’t understand history, or they’re trying to sell you something. In either case, there’s no upside for you. Mountains of data, research, and science confirm our claim. If the …