Recap of the Week Stocks spent most of last week in their recent trading range. They fell sharply on Friday, however. The main drivers were a North Korean nuclear test and remarks from Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. Mr. Rosengren suggested that a gradual interest rate hike may be in order. This sent stocks into a [...]

Recap of the Week Stocks moved up moderately last week. Trading remained choppy, but volume picked up. Most likely we'll see larger moves after Labor Day, as the "summer doldrums" season has ended. Economic Data Consumer confidence, personal spending and pending home sales were better-than-expected. On the negative side, ISM Manufacturing, the Chicago Purchasing Manager's Index and [...]

Recap of the Week Stocks continued trading in a tight range last week. The range expanded on Friday, however, as Janet Yellen and other Federal Reserve members spoke. Because of their comments, the odds of an interest rate hike went up in the futures markets. This caused stocks and bonds to end the week with modest losses. [...]

Some investing concepts are obvious. For example, if you want really high returns, you’ll probably have to take a lot of risk. Other concepts aren’t as intuitive. Consider compound interest. The ability for money to grow through compounding is rather amazing. Albert Einstein reportedly called it the greatest mathematical discovery of all time.” A drawdown […]

"Impossible!" they say. “You can’t time the market.” “Just buy and hold.” “It’s time in the market—not timing the market—that’s important.” We’ve heard these sayings many times. Market timing is supposed to be impossible. But this calls to mind another saying: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.” Defining our terms—what is [...]

Does this look like a good time to hold stocks? This was the crash following the “dot-com bubble.” In less than 3 years, the S&P 500 fell more than 50% from its peak. Some analysts called it a once-in-a-lifetime event. Then, just five years later, this happened: 2000 to 2002 The S&P 500 fell even [...]

What’s working now?” is a popular question in financial circles. There are even radio shows and newsletters with that title. Some people plow through investment forums and Google searching for the answer. What investment strategy/adviser has done the best over the last year...or last 6 months...or last 3 weeks? The wrong question to ask Is [...]

When it comes to investing, do you follow the herd?  Most TSP investors do. Investopedia describes this herd instinct as a "lack of individual decision-making...causing people to think and act...as the majority of those around them." Popularity vs Performance In our last two blog posts, here and here, we mentioned a recent TSP audit. It showed that TSP investors put [...]

An investment that doesn’t lose money is attractive. This is especially true for conservative investors. And after two devastating bear markets within 10 years, many investors are more conservative. This is why the G Fund is so popular. There’s no risk of losing your money in it. Unfortunately, its popularity comes with a cost. A [...]

Let's face it--investing isn't easy.  Every day you hear conflicting reports from the financial world.  Friends, co-workers and experts recommend completely different investing approaches. In this day of information overload, clear thinking is in short supply.  As a result, it's easy to be indecisive.  It's also easy to make a lot of poor decisions. When [...]