Posts by Matt Hargreaves
Investment Question of the Month: Should I invest my cash now or over time?
If you have cash sitting on the sidelines, you have options to get it invested. Here are three of the most common options to get it invested: Invest it right away (lump sum) Invest it over time (dollar-cost average) Invest when the market pulls back (time the market) Each option has pros and cons, but research suggests investing it right away has…
Read More2020 4th Quarter Commentary
Market Summary A strong fourth quarter capped a wild and turbulent year. 2020 marked the largest reversal in the S&P 500’s history, rebounding over 70% from the March lows and finishing the year up over 18%. During the fourth quarter, the major indexes reached all-time highs as investors welcomed greater political clarity and positive news…
Read MoreInvestment Question of the Month: IPO’s
INVESTMENT QUESTION OF THE MONTH: Should I invest in an Initial Public Offering (IPO)? Through November 16th of this year, we saw 223 companies[1] make the transition from private to public through way of IPOs, the most since 2014. And we could potentially see over $100 billion raised in IPOs by the end of 2020.…
Read MoreInvestment Question of the Month: Large Cap Tech Stock Dominance
Large technology stocks continue to dominate the market. Is this a new normal? The top 5 stocks in the S&P 500 – Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Facebook – have had an extraordinary run of returns. Year-to-date through August, the S&P 500 index returned 10% – with those five stocks returning 49% while the remaining…
Read MoreThanksgiving 2020’s Charts We Are Thankful For
We posted three scary charts on Halloween (See here) and wanted to post three charts we are thankful for on Thanksgiving. 1) Household Debt Service Ratio The household debt service ratio is the ratio of total required debt payments to total disposable income. Thanks to historically low interest rates, the ratio finished last quarter at…
Read MoreHappy Halloween: 2020’s Scary Charts
The financial world can be a scary place. It seems like there is always something to fear in the market. This is especially true in 2020 when investors have endured COVID-19, extreme stock market volatility, massive economic uncertainty and now a Presidential election. Fortunately, our worst fears usually don’t come to fruition. To get in…
Read More2020 Third Quarter Commentary
Market Summary Stocks continued their upward momentum in July and August as Growth stocks helped push the S&P 500 to new all-time highs before correcting in September. Despite the pullback, the S&P 500 returned nearly 9% for the quarter, pushing it into positive territory on the year, and over 50% from the March lows. Once…
Read MoreHow the 2020 election may impact your financial life
2020 election Election scenario planning plays a role in macroeconomic analysis and financial planning, particularly in recent years as tax policies have changed and governments have increasingly intervened in the financial markets during times of crisis. We focus primarily on a few of the market and economic impacts of the election. But our evaluation is…
Read MoreElection Season v. The Stock Market
Election season can be a challenging time for investors to maintain a long-term perspective, given the strong emotions often evoked by politics. Campaign rhetoric tends to amplify negative and divisive issues. In particular, this election is unprecedented in modern times — marked by the combination of a deadly pandemic, a severe economic recession, widespread civil…
Read MoreCybersecurity 101
More individuals each year are becoming the target of phishing scams. A phishing scam is where you get an email that appears to be from a company you recognize. The email tries to get you to click on a link and directs you to a website that works to get you to share sensitive information or install malware on…
Read More