After a turbulent 3rd quarter, markets rebounded in the 4th quarter. For the year, the S&P 500 index was down 0.7% to 2044. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.3% for the year, closing at 17,245. Technology stocks fared better with the NASDAQ Composite Index up 5.2% to 5,007. In fact, some of the […]
Investment Ideas
The Danger of Reaching for Yield in a Low Interest Rate World
Recently, high-yield bonds, otherwise known as junk bonds, have been in the news following the collapse of the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund. This mutual fund invested in some of the riskiest and least liquid bonds and corporate bank loans. The fund was already down 27% in 2015. As investors tried to get their money […]
My mutual funds are down. How can I have capital gains?
It’s that time of year when mutual funds make their capital gains distributions. As of Nov 23, the S&P 500 is up a little over 1% for the year. The Dow (DJIA) is actually fractionally down for the year. However, many mutual funds will be paying out large taxable distributions in the coming weeks. How is this […]
September Market Recap
Market volatility continued in September with US markets down 2.5% for the month as measured by the S&P 500 TR Index. US markets are now down 5.3% for the year. International markets continued to struggle as well with the MSCI ACWI TR Index down 4.6% in September. Emerging markets have been especially hard hit and […]
A Financial Lesson for the New College Grad
It’s that time of year again when college seniors head into the real world. First of all, we would like to congratulate all the new grads on their achievement. Luckily, the job hiring environment is better this year than it’s been in a long time, with the unemployment rate around 5.5%. New grads are often bombarded […]