The Price of Admission Posted on December 28, 2018 By Matt Everything is down this year except cash and municipal bonds. Headlines are dismal. Volatility is rampant. This isn’t some freak event. It’s the price of admission. Taken as a whole, yes it is unusual to have almost every asset class down in a calendar year. What’s not unusual is the… Read more
Investing Scoring Points Posted on November 14, 2018 By Matt In the short-term, the market is like Whose Line Is It Anyway, the show where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. Yes, the points don’t matter just like the nutrition facts on a Happy Meal. If you’re looking for proof, check out October. More than 80% of S&P… Read more
Investing Investing in Relationships Posted on November 6, 2018 By Matt Investors must believe that investments will continue to rise in value. There is no guarantee this will be the case. It’s a leap of faith. There is a rational reason why stocks should go up in the future – the objective of a business is to make money and that… Read more
Stop, Drop, and Roll Posted on October 15, 2018 By Matt There are many milestones on the path to adulthood: turning 18, graduating from school, landing that first job, having a baby. There are also less tangible markers of adulthood such as a shift in our perception of threats. Saturday morning cartoons implied that quicksand would be a real and ever-present… Read more
Investing I Blame SportsCenter Posted on October 11, 2018October 10, 2018 By Matt The market was down 3% yesterday although you’re more likely to see this as DOW PLUMMETS OVER 800 POINTS. I don’t know why it’s down, but neither does anyone else. No one knows what it will do from here, either. However, I do know how things will play out on… Read more
Your Bad Taste in Music Isn’t Helping You Invest Posted on September 20, 2018September 19, 2018 By Matt Spotify’s algorithm recently uncovered a gem (to me, anyway) from my youth, adding Gilby Clarke’s “Cure Me Or Kill Me” to one of my playlists. I admit that this is not a great song, but seeing as how our musical tastes are developed in our teenage years, this track scratches… Read more
Can’t Trust’em Posted on September 18, 2018 By Matt It pays to be skeptical of financial product pitches. Investments that are sold rather than bought are often inferior and loaded with fees. Marketing (even for good funds) is filled with cherry-picked data, but that’s the job of the marketing folks – make the product look good. However, sometimes a… Read more
Rising Rate Pitch Posted on July 24, 2018 By Matt Rising interest rates have been a market bogeyman for almost a decade. During that time we’ve gotten pitched all sorts of products that claimed to protect against this. They never seemed to do well, mostly because rates never went up! A couple of years ago that changed. The Federal Reserve… Read more
Investing The Thing to Keep in Mind About Knife Fights Posted on June 23, 2018June 22, 2018 By Matt Years ago, I had the opportunity to attend some self-defense workshops put on by military and law enforcement. One class that changed my outlook on life was a knife course. We were going to learn how law enforcement treats knives and how to work with a knife ourselves. “The thing… Read more
News Left of the Decimal Posted on June 21, 2018 By Matt Dow Jones has removed General Electric from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and replaced it with Walgreens Boots Alliance. GE was an original Dow stock and was part of the index for over 100 years. The Dow is how your parents consume the stock market which is why newscasts… Read more