Scroll down for commentary, important news, links to articles we like, and anything else we believe is worth reading.

OR BETTER YET

Give us your email and we’ll send you what you need to know, as we post it.

Good Times, Bad Times

October 18, 2024Folks, the S&P 500: It’s tough to imagine those bad periods, right? We’ve been in a good one for quite some time now. Of course, within all the good periods were some duds (like 2022), and within the bad, some good (like 2003). But it’s been quite a run, especially when you consider that what the S&P 500 represents – large US companies – has given us the best returns since 2013 – better than value, small cap, foreign and emerging market stocks. Therein lies the danger! While 11 years seems like a long time, a statistician will tell ... Read More

Do Elections Matter to the Markets?

August 21, 2024It’s getting closer. And the closer it gets, the more people wonder and/or worry about what effect the election may have on their portfolio. For those of you who have been with us a while, I think you know what’s coming. But a little reminder never hurts. And for the newbies, behold the power of the markets! The S&P 500 has averaged about 10.4% annualized since 1926. Now look at the averages at the top right. Nothing out of the ordinary, right? Even a bit better, particularly during the election years (coincidently, this year too). Whether it’s the year of ... Read More

Scam Alert

July 17, 2024A client just got this email (the circles are ours, of course): It is not from Charles Schwab. Nor has Charles Schwab been hacked. Scammers target companies like Schwab due to their ubiquity. Think Apple, Amazon, FedEx…they are all so big and so widely used that scammers just hope you use these companies and believe the email is real. The signs of a scam are typically glaring, and are so here. The email address is clearly not Schwab. They say the same thing twice in a row at the bottom. And the grammar and capitalization in the middle is worse ... Read More

Frequently “Oaked” Questions: Nvidia

June 27, 2024You Asked, So We’ll Answer FOQ: What’s going on with Nvidia? It’s all you hear about these days. Short: Nothing of consequence Long: It’s a tech stock that’s fresh off a stock split and a wild ride in value that made it the biggest public company on the planet (until Microsoft took back the crown). Here’s the last 20 months: FOQ: Is a stock split good? Short: Doesn’t matter Long: A stock split is done to increase liquidity. In this case, each stockholder received 10 shares for every 1 they owned. Consequently, the price was also adjusted by the ... Read More