Last week, a client asked about the NASDAQ 100 and its rebalance. This week, I was talking to a client about the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). This long-standing market index just posted its best winning streak since the 1980s, posting 13 straight days of positive closes (it fell short of 14 straight days by […]

Let’s travel back in time. Friends is the top TV show. All for You by Janet Jackson is the top song. AOL has 28 million users and AOL.com is the top website. George W Bush is president. Flip phones and Blackberries dominate the cell phone market. Gas is $1.46 per gallon. It’s early 2001. A […]

I was reviewing a weekly newsletter this week (yes, I read several others beyond the Friday Five!) when this headline caught my eye. It was sourced from this recent CNBC article on what adults in the US believe they will need to retire Notice anything alarming about this summary graphic? Pretty much everything in the […]

The news media has been discussing a relatively rare occurrence this week – a special rebalance of a key market index. A client asked me why it’s happening and what it may mean for markets and individual companies. Let’s take a look What is the NASDAQ 100? The NASDAQ 100 is a common equity market […]

A client reached out this week inquiring asking for help to decipher the various types of fees being charged by another financial advisor to a family member. I thought it was a great topic to cover as there can be lot of confusion (and not much clarity) on this topic. While this may be a […]

After a slow holiday week, markets have resumed normal operating speed this week and thankfully, the momentum has been positive. The upward moves are largely due to signs of disinflation. The two inflation reports for June released this week did their part to reassure investors that it remains possible the US can attain a soft […]

A lot of the questions I receive from clients are triggered by newspaper articles or stories on the business news channel that they come across. That was the case this week when a client asked about a tax mentioned in the Wall Street Journal – the Net Investment Income Tax. Let’s take a look What […]

Every year, I pick a one-word theme for the upcoming year. It is a fun exercise to kick off a near year and it also helps serve as a good reminder as the days tick by of what I want to prioritize and how I want to spend my time. My word for 2023 was […]

I subscribe to a few research services. I always value other people’s ideas and thoughts on the market and these services do a great job of challenging my thinking and presenting new perspectives. One research firm I am particularly impressed by- FS Insight – does an excellent job of simplifying the market into digestible ideas […]

If you have federal student loans (like my client’s son does), you may be wondering when (or if) payments will resume after a three-year pause (originally put in place during COVID) This pause also included a moratorium on interest accruals. The short answer – payments are coming back – and soon. Recently, the Department of […]