Even though we ‘knew’ this would happen, it still seems more than surreal that Russia would invade Ukraine. It was obvious that Russian President Putin was building an invasion army, not a political bargaining tool along the border of Ukraine. A few weeks ago I penned that the invasion of Ukraine was imminent. There is […]
Preparing for retirement, preparing for the next bear market on the Sunday Reads.
These are more than interesting weeks and months. We appear to be moving to the other side of the pandemic. But certainly the stock markets are not in the best of moods these days. I had suggested in early 2021 that the market makers might not like what they see when get a peak at […]
Stock markets have you spooked? Here’s the answer.
Most investors do not like volatility. They do not like looking at their investment account balance observing that they’ve ‘lost money’. Of course, you have not lost money until you buy an asset at a certain price and then sell at a lower price. You’ve then just realized your losses. You have not lost money […]
The 2021 returns for ETF portfolios.
The year 2021 was the first full year of the pandemic. Most of us continue to be surprised that a pandemic turned out to be the best thing that could happen to stock markets. Of course, the stock market rally has been fueled by record amounts of fiscal stimulus (government support) and low interest rates. […]
Asset returns for stocks and bonds in 2021.
2021 was an incredible year for investors. The S&P 500 rose 27% in 2021, hitting 70 all-time highs in the interim. That’s the most new records for the benchmark index since the 77 it set in 1954. For the first time in its history, all of the sectors in the S&P 500 also posted double-digit gains.. That […]
Looking back at 2021 on the Sunday Reads.
Happy New Year! I hope that 2021 was a good year for you and yours; as much as could be expected given that it was the first full year of the first modern day pandemic. That said we certainly made gains in 2021 thanks to the miracle of vaccines. We moved closer to the other […]