Now that we have your attention, let’s take a look at uncertain times and certain times. In our decades of delivering financial guidance, we can’t recall any certain times, which could make you think it’s even more important to know how to react to uncertainty. Here’s some of the uncertainty we’ve witnessed in the last [...]
Given recent events, we sense a need to send you this booster shot of “Vitamin C(alm)”. After numerous conversations with clients during annual review meetings, we thought this would be a good time to discuss the ultimate impact of the ‘Crises du jour’ on your financial plan. Our intent is not to downplay the significance [...]
In 2009, after overly strict mark-to-market accounting rules were altered, we said the Financial Crisis was over. It was hard to get our voice heard, though, because both sides of the political aisle were busy saying the economy stunk. Political liberals tried to use the crisis to grow the government and increase bank regulation. Political [...]
We keep hearing people make comparisons between this recovery and those of the past as if it's apples-to-apples. For example, comparing job growth today to job growth after the 2008-2009 Panic. All in an effort to make the case that government spending creates economic growth. But there is nothing normal about the current economy. The [...]
Give Thanks! The US economy continues to heal. Payrolls keep growing, unemployment claims - though still elevated - are shrinking, key measures of the manufacturing and service sectors remain well into positive territory, and, as this week should show, both retail sales and industrial production remain on an upward trajectory. While some investors are concerned [...]
There is nothing normal about the 2020 recession. Massive nationwide shutdowns of "non-essential" businesses caused real GDP to drop at a 31.4% annual rate in the second quarter, the biggest drop since the 1930s. However, as we expected, a V-shaped recovery is being traced out. On October 29th, in ten days, we expect a report [...]
The second quarter of 2020 was the mother of all economic contractions. Real GDP shrank at a 31.7% annual rate, the largest drop for any quarter since the Great Depression. However, based on the economic reports we've seen so far, it looks like the third quarter will be the mother of all economic rebounds. Even [...]
A full recovery from the COVID-19/Shutdown Crisis is going to take a long time. We don't anticipate reaching a new peak for real GDP until the end of 2021; we don't anticipate a 4% unemployment rate until 2024. However, there is a growing amount of evidence that the economy may have hit bottom in May. [...]
In December 2018 with the S&P 500 at 2,500, we forecast it would hit 3,100 by the end of 2019 and then pushed our forecast to 3,250 as stocks soared. The S&P 500 rose 28.9% in 2019 and hit that revised target on the first day of trading in 2020. We then raised the target [...]