Insights

Weekly Market Commentary March 25, 2019

The S&P 500 dropped 0.7% on concerns a key economic indicator signaled recession risk was increasing. The global MSCI ACWI slipped 0.5%. The Bloomberg BarCap Aggregate Bond Index soared 0.9% as investors rotated toward fixed-income investments that often perform better when rates decline.

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Took Their Ball and Went Home: Staying in Play with Job-Creators

Valentine’s Day was tough on New Yorkers who hoped to benefit from the more than 20,000 new jobs from Amazon’s move there (not to mention all the additional jobs from construction and supporting the new employees). For others, the event is the hoped-for moment where the relative power of corporations, governments and labor shifts back to governments and possibly labor. Expect those who protested against Amazon’s breaks to be disappointed. Instead, the move will be seen as evidence of corporations continuing to gain strength. Read more

Weekly Market Commentary March 18, 2019

The S&P 500 rebounded 2.9% after last week’s decline as positive sentiment overcame a number of mildly negative economic reports and continued uncertainty regarding trade. The global MSCI ACWI shed 2.1%. The Bloomberg BarCap Aggregate Bond Index climbed 0.7%. Read more

Weekly Market Commentary March 11, 2019

The S&P 500 finally experienced a meaningful decline after posting gains nearly every week this year. The index dropped 2.2% last week. Read more

Retirement Fund Catch-Up Contributions: An Ace Up Your Sleeve for the Long Game

For many of us, retirement planning is a persistent boogie man in the back of our minds. The statistics on people’s lack of retirement preparation are staggering, and the official retirement age seems to increase by the minute. Life expectancy is getting longer, and resources seem to be getting scarcer. Any hand that savers and wage-earners play at this point in life seems like a bet against the house, sure to lose. Read more

Weekly Market Commentary March 4, 2019

The S&P 500 used another good-news Friday to move into positive territory for the ninth week out of the last 10. Last week, the popular measure of domestic stock performance increased another 0.5%. Read more

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Changed Things More Than You Realize

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made a lot of changes. It was the single largest tax reform bill in nearly 30 years. However, the impact of the TCJA might be a lot broader than most realize. Almost every small business owner in the country is impacted by a new tax deduction called 199A. Read more

Weekly Market Commentary February 25, 2019

The S&P 500 added another 0.7% to its impressive gains since late December. Optimism about a trade agreement between the U.S. and China continued to support markets.

While trade negotiations between the U.S. and China remain the key focus, a number of other key events and data releases are likely to move markets this week. Read more

Weekly Market Commentary February 19, 2019

The S&P 500 surged 2.6% on the news an agreement had been reached to avoid a government shutdown and increased optimism about trade negotiations. Global stocks participated in the rally. Read more

Weekly Market Commentary February 11, 2019

U.S. stocks finished barely positive last week. The S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher on a relatively light week for news. The government shutdown has delayed a number of key statistics about the strength of the U.S. economy and given investors less data then expected to evaluate it. Read more