Blog Investment Management

Shopping for a Condo? Consider These Factors.

By Ben Rickey / February 9, 2021 / Comments Off on Shopping for a Condo? Consider These Factors.

A condo has a home owners association (HOA) with Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R’s) and bylaws in which the owners of a condo will need to follow.   Summary:   Review your Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions.  Review the last 12 months meeting minutes of the HOA.  Get the number of Primary Residence & 2nd home owners vs. rental…

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2020 4th Quarter Commentary

By Matt Hargreaves / January 13, 2021 / Comments Off on 2020 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…

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Investment Question of the Month: IPO’s

By Matt Hargreaves / December 10, 2020 / Comments Off on Investment 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.…

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Investment Question of the Month: Large Cap Tech Stock Dominance

By Matt Hargreaves / November 11, 2020 / Comments Off on Investment 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…

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Thanksgiving 2020’s Charts We Are Thankful For

By Matt Hargreaves / November 11, 2020 / Comments Off on Thanksgiving 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…

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Happy Halloween: 2020’s Scary Charts

By Matt Hargreaves / October 30, 2020 / Comments Off on Happy 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…

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How the 2020 election may impact your financial life

By Matt Hargreaves / October 9, 2020 / Comments Off on How 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…

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Election Season v. The Stock Market

By Matt Hargreaves / September 2, 2020 / Comments Off on Election 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…

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Coronavirus Fears Hit Markets

By Ben Rickey / February 24, 2020 / Comments Off on Coronavirus Fears Hit Markets

Coronavirus worries officially enter the market as pessimism has shifted from the impact on China to the outbreak to other countries, like South Korea, Italy and Iran amongst others. The market contracted over 3% today (so far). It is important to note that, although uncomfortable, big drops are normal.  S&P averages more than five 2% drops…

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Yield of Dreams: Total Returns vs. Income Investing

By Matt Hargreaves / February 12, 2020 / Comments Off on Yield of Dreams: Total Returns vs. Income Investing

When thinking about income in retirement, many investors embrace the adage “never tap growth or touch the principal.” However, generating an acceptable income solely from interest and dividends requires a sizeable portfolio, and isn’t practical, realistic or necessary for many investors. Interest and dividends only: In this approach, you rely on investment income only, without…

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