Monday, October 5, 2020
The third quarter ended last week, with the market up for the quarter but down slightly for the month. Historically, September has been a down month in the market, so this is not unusual. The news that President Trump has Covid-19...
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Monday, September 28, 2020
We ended last week on a positive note, recovering some of the month’s losses. While we’re down for the month, the 3rd quarter is still positive. Earlier in the month, the losses were coming from tech stocks and growth...
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Monday, September 21, 2020
The market declined about 1% last week. While unemployment claims continue to decline, the Federal Reserve Bank reaffirmed they will keep interest rates low until inflation increases, and probably for the next few years at least. We...
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Monday, September 14, 2020
Last week, the market had a second consecutive week of losses, coming down from all-time highs. Is it time to panic? Probably not. Since the low in March, the S&P 500 has risen over 40%. Year to date, it is still up over 3%. This up...
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Monday, August 31, 2020
The market has reached another all-time high, with the S&P 500 crossing the 3,500 mark, for an almost 7% gain this past month. What’s interesting is that we are also seeing an increase in the VIX, or volatility index. We...
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Monday, August 24, 2020
The market approached its all time high last week. Since the low on March 23rd, the S&P 500 has climbed just over 50%. Jobless claims dropped below 1 million, while Congress failed to reach an agreement on additional stimulus. The S&P...
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Monday, August 17, 2020
The market approached its all time high last week. Since the low on March 23rd, the S&P 500 has climbed just over 50%. Jobless claims dropped below 1 million, while Congress failed to reach an agreement on additional stimulus. The S&P...
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Monday, August 10, 2020
The market continued to rebound over the last week as companies reported quarterly earnings. While earnings, or the profit or loss per share of stock, are certainly down from last year, over 80% of companies beat their consensus...
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Monday, July 27, 2020
Last week the market started off well, but dropped Thursday and Friday. Thursday saw unemployment claims rise for the first time in months. Friday, approximately one-quarter of the S&P 500 reported earnings. While 80% of the companies...
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Monday, July 20, 2020
We had another volatile week in the markets, finishing slightly ahead for the week. Earnings season, when publicly traded companies report how much money they made or loss for the prior quarter, is just getting started and will impact...
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Monday, July 13, 2020
Stocks were up and down last week, but still positive for the week. Friday’s gains were led by bank stocks, and the news that Gilead Sciences Inc’s drug remdesivir cuts Covid-19 mortality by 62%. This eased fears about...
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Monday, July 6, 2020
Last week, the markets were closed on Friday. Tuesday saw an end to the best quarter in market history, with the S&P up over 20%. Of course, this follows the first quarter of 2020, which was the worst in history. We continue to see...
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Monday, June 29, 2020
Last week, the S&P 500 started strong, but began dropping mid-week. On Friday alone, the market fell about 2%. Looking at one year comparisons, we are still higher than last year. The volatility, or the ups and downs in the market, is...
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Monday, June 22, 2020
Last week, the S&P 500 continued recovering on Monday and held on to those gains the remainder of the week. On a year-over-year basis, we are still positive. Economists are predicting a variety of things. This makes sense, given the...
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Monday, June 8, 2020
The markets continued to recover last week, with the S&P 500 gaining over 5%. We are close to being positive on a year-to-date basis. There are three big factors behind the success of big, publicly-traded companies. The Fed has...
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Wednesday, June 3, 2020
During dinner last night, my daughters mentioned that this year has been like the second Hunger Games book, Catching Fire. If you're not familiar with it, the game in the story is based on a clock. Every hour brings a new, fresh hell...
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Monday, June 1, 2020
The market was up again last week, and is still positive on a year over year basis. This seems absolutely crazy, given what we see and hear about restaurants closing, retail chains filing for bankruptcy, unemployment figures, and other...
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Friday, May 22, 2020
As the pandemic drags out and cabin fever sets in, we continue to see a divergence between "the market" as defined by the S&P 500 and small business reality. Government intervention by both Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank has...
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Monday, May 18, 2020
The market was up for most of last week, falling on Friday with announced retail sales numbers reflecting the largest drop in history, and increasing China-US trade tension. On a year over year basis, though, we are still almost even...
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Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Our podcast today referenced Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities in discussing the difference between the stock market and our personal reality. As I write this, the S&P 500 (an index of 500 large US publicly traded companies that generally...
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Monday, May 11, 2020
The markets posted gains again last week, and the S&P 500 is positive on a year-over year basis. Meaning your investments are worth more now than they were one year ago. It’s like A Tale of Two Cities. How is that possible, given...
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Monday, May 4, 2020
I would love to give you a clear idea of what to expect over the next few months, but the only reliable thing I can tell you is that we are in uncharted territory. Given everything, the market overall is doing well. We started off the...
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Wednesday, April 29, 2020
This video provides a quick overview of the global financial markets and my perspective on them for the first quarter of 2020. If you'd like a deeper dive into the last quarter, I've attached a full market commentary from our...
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Saturday, April 25, 2020
I think that the one thing we are all searching for is the one thing we can't have: answers about how this will all play out, when we'll be back at work, what will happen to the economy. Heck, I'm wondering what will happen to some of...
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Monday, April 20, 2020
The markets were up again last week. The S&P 500 was up approximately 3%. Given everything going on, you might wonder how this can be possible. Remember that the markets are forward looking. Based on pushes to reopen parts of the...
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Tuesday, April 14, 2020
We are definitely on wild roller coaster ride at this point. We have gone from record highs to the worst first-quarter performance in market history, to the largest gains, to steep drops again. And it's not just the market; our...
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Monday, April 13, 2020
The markets rebounded last week, up over 10%. We’re back at May 2019 levels overall for the stock market. Why did this happen? Investors reacted to several pieces of information: signs that the social distancing is working and...
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Monday, April 6, 2020
The markets closed their worst first quarter in history last week, and we expect the volatility, or the ups and downs in the market, to continue for some time. What’s important to remember is that markets are forward looking,...
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Saturday, April 4, 2020
There are two sayings that are resonating with me right now. The first comes from my daughters' high school: Function in disaster, finish in style. For now, we will all do the best we can to get through. When this is over, and things...
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Monday, March 30, 2020
What a wild ride. The markets are on a roller coaster right now, and we expect that to continue for some time. On the expectation of the stimulus bill being passed, the markets surged, posting the largest gain since 1931. Friday was...
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Saturday, March 28, 2020
I've attached two analysis pieces: a deeper dive into the current market and some historical perspective, and a piece about the anticipated recovery. I know that we are living in uncertain times. As a nation, we have been through war,...
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Thursday, March 26, 2020
If you're watching the news, you've probably seen that the market is up so far this week. Investors have reacted positively to the expected stimulus bill, buying back into the market. We're still down from the record highs set earlier...
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Monday, March 23, 2020
Oh my. Through Thursday of last week, the markets continued to drop, down over 25% from the record highs earlier this year. That sounds terrifying, doesn’t it? On the surface, it certainly does. But for some perspective, consider...
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Thursday, March 19, 2020
As we navigate these uncertain times, I will continue to send out commentary and research that I believe may interest, educate and/or enlighten you. We will continue to post this information on our website and Facebook page as well....
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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
There's an old curse that I think applies right now: May you live in interesting times. This is certainly that. I know there is a lot of anxiety right now, about the markets, about the health of older family and friends, and how we...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Oh my. It sure seems like the zombie apocalypse is upon us. The market has officially entered bear territory, ending an unprecedented eleven-year...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. The market recovered from the corona virus drop last week, with both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching all-time highs....
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Last week we talked about finding a financial planner, or financial advisor, to help you get your finances in order. Something to talk with your...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. We continue to see new highs in the market. Last week, the Senate passed the USMCA, the trade deal with Canada and Mexico that will replace NAFTA...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. After a dip the previous week and a volatile start, the market continued to new heights last week, setting new all-time highs. While we expect...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. The markets continued their upward swing last week, continuing to set all-time highs. Retail sales were up over last year, and post-holiday sales...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Both the Dow and S&P set new all-time highs again last week. On December 13th, the US and China announced a “phase one” trade...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Both the Dow and S&P set new all-time highs on Thursday, largely on reports that the trade deal with China is close to being finalized. The...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. The market was volatile last week, based on concerns about trade and a soft manufacturing report. Overall, we are still positive over the last...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. The market rallied last week, reaching new all-time highs after reports that China has conceded on a key trade negotiation point around honoring...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Through Thursday, the market was slightly down, based on fears the phase one trade agreement with China will not be finalized by year end....
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. The market was up again last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossing over 28,000. The Dow’s record-breaker was largely fueled...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Stock market indices were up again last week, with the S&P 500 reaching another all-time high. The jobs report released the previous week showed...
Read MoreMonday Money Report This is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with your Monday Money Report. Stock market indices were up again last week, with the S&P 500 reaching an all-time high mid-week. Part of this came from publicly-traded...
Read MoreGood morning, this is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina with your Monday Money Report. Overall, stocks were up slightly last week. Our recession watch indicators are still green, indicating no imminent risk of recession. If you’re...
Read MoreThis is Ann Alsina of CovingtonAlsina, with this week’s Market Update. The market has been up over the last week. And by market, I’m referring to two general stock-market indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, commonly...
Read MoreWe would like to extend a huge “thank you” to everyone who joined us on Tuesday March 21st for our monthly Women, Wine & Wisdom event. Despite the last-minute venue change we had a great turnout with lots of new faces and a...
Read MoreDreaming of living abroad? Moving to be near family? Here are a few important points to think about before you make the move. If living abroad is something you’ve always envisioned, retirement might be the perfect time to explore...
Read MoreWe would like to extend a huge “thank you” to everyone who joined us on Tuesday, February 21st, for our monthly Women, Wine & Wisdom event. We had a great turnout and enjoyed an engaging talk and discussion on all things to...
Read MoreMy grandfather had a problem with open caskets at wakes, visitations and funerals. He insisted that, when his time came, his casket would be closed. “If you couldn’t be bothered to come see me when I was alive, you’re not going to see...
Read MoreWhat is a legacy? So often we think of it as a tangible asset, usually wealth, but sometimes antiques, jewelry or other possessions. What if your legacy were the people you’ve touched, the change you’ve sparked, the body of work you...
Read MoreWorking as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional gives me a unique perspective on money, and how it affects people. One of the most common quotes I hear is that “Money is the root of all evil.”
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