Articles in the popular media as well as financial services company advertisements frequently refer to today’s “volatile and uncertain world.” I generally dismiss these alarmist headlines since the world is and always has been uncertain. However, things may actually be different today. Some...
As a certified numbers geek, I have always tinkered with quantitative models to explain and/or forecast the economy and financial markets. Specifically, I developed five different models designed to estimate future returns on the S&P 500 Index. Attempting to predict short term stock...
One of my pet peeves is the frequent use in media headlines and in the marketing materials of financial services firms of the phrase “uncertain and volatile economy and financial markets.” It is everywhere and just isn’t true! The first chart shows the...
We spend a lot of time talking to our clients about diversification, downside protection, and the long-term value of reducing short-term volatility. Those concepts are important to us, part of our DNA as a firm and as investment professionals. But why? In simple terms, if...
We pride ourselves on providing our clients with education on important investment and financial planning concepts and, despite the risk of overkill, we find that repetition is important because they are not always easy to grasp. Specifically, an understanding of these ideas will help...
