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…
Investing
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Investing in Relationships
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…
Stop, Drop, and Roll
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…
Investing
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I Blame SportsCenter
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…
Your Bad Taste in Music Isn’t Helping You Invest
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…
Can’t Trust’em
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…
Rising Rate Pitch
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…
Investing
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The Thing to Keep in Mind About Knife Fights
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…
News
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Left of the Decimal
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…
Spot the Pattern and Let Me Lie to You
This is actually a post about two different lies. The first is the lie your brain tells you because it can’t help itself. The second is a lie investors need to keep an eye out for when presented with market data. Spot the Pattern We all know about the market…