Santa Did Not Call But Be Careful With Bears Coming to Broad & Wall – Bumpy is The Theme
Greetings from Beantown, one of my favorite cities. I have been traveling for work since 1989 with thousands of trips I guess and I have never forgotten my clothes. That is, until last yesterday. My plan was to head to Vermont from Boston and I have everything I need in Vermont. So as I am scrambling to get on the road with my UCONN napsack, I left the articles of clothing I needed behind. I did manage to bring a […]
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Date: January 5, 2024
2024 Begins on Defense – Buy Weakness – Enough Said
Welcome to 2024! I hope you had a great long weekend. Mine was full of football, family, friends along with some yard work, the UCONN game and some office time. For the bourbon aficionados out there, I won an auction of various labels from the Buffalo Trace family that included three bottles of Wellers. Still no Pappy Van Winkle, but I won’t give up hope. For me this is traditionally the busiest week of the year inside the busiest month […]
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Date: January 2, 2024
Hartford’s Top Financial Advisor Reveals Retirement Strategies for 2024
Gone are the days when a lifetime career with one employer led to a secure pension payment for the rest of your life. Now, the responsibility for building a retirement fund primarily falls on individuals with matching employer contributions. Retirement planning in 2024 is another opportunity to add to your retirement assets. For many, saving enough assets for a comfortable, secure retirement is a significant challenge. Several variables can impact the accumulation of these assets: Inflation, taxes, rising life expectancies, […]
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Date: December 29, 2023
Final Day of 2023 Shaping Up To Be Down – Small Caps Have Been a Blockbuster
I have said this all year, but what a fun year it has been. Not only did the markets follow my script fairly well, but it was a blockbuster year for the bulls and investors. I don’t think 2024 will be a mirror image. I am sad to see the calendar turn, but random dates do not impact markets. I continue to formulate my 2024 Fearless Forecast and I look forward to sharing that with you next week. With markets […]
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Date: December 29, 2023
Every Month Counts: 2024 Retirement Planning Made Simple
As a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor in Hartford, CT, taking a more defensive approach to retirement planning is important, especially when the securities markets are extremely unpredictable. Based on that, we have developed a 2024 retirement planning calendar that lists the many unknowns that could impact your retirement plans next year: persistent inflation, rising interest rates, a 2024 Presidential election, and continued market volatility. Regardless of what happens in the economy or stock market in 2024, your retirement plan should […]
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Date: December 27, 2023
Bulls’ Stampede Continues – “BUT BUT BUT”
Stocks continue to creep higher as I have been discussing and as the various studies have suggested. I went back to see when I started mentioning strong seasonal tailwinds. It was at the end of October, coincidentally as the stock market was hammering in a major bottom. Since then with the exception of two weeks in December with seasonal headwinds, there has been study after study all suggesting higher and higher prices into year-end. This has been yet more evidence […]
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Date: December 27, 2023
Panic Selling At All-Time Highs – What It Means
On Wednesday I wrote about runaway momentum and how it crushes everything in its way until it doesn’t. That very day and without notice, stocks saw a nasty downside reversal in matter of minutes that turned to hours. Some in the media made a federal case about it. I even heard one interviewer ask a guest to comment on the importance of the last 20 MINUTES. Come on. 20 minutes? Are we next going to discuss minute to minute trading? […]
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Date: December 22, 2023
Runaway Momentum Crushing Everything In Its Way
It is pretty amazing what momentum can do in the markets. Once that ball gets rolling strongly in one direction it can powerfully build and build and then crush everything in its way, kind of like an avalanche which I know a little about. Let’s take a quick look. Below is the S&P 500. From the October bottom you can count only a few red days where the index closed below where it opened. Now, go see how many times […]
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Date: December 20, 2023
Watching Small Stocks For Another Huge Opportunity As Dow Hits An ALL-TIME HIGH
We have an incredibly wet and windy start to the week in the northeast. Lots of power outages, school delays and trees down. It’s 60 with inches of rain and rumors of hurricane force wind gusts. I guess a white Christmas is a pipe dream. The bulls don’t seem to mind. We have the Dow Industrials at an all-time high. The S&P 500 is just a good one day rally away. The NASDAQ 100 could get there today. And while […]
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Date: December 18, 2023
I Was Wrong
My head has been spinning this week. I definitely did not see the Fed discussing rate cuts in 2024. Was that the “pivot” the world has been hoping for all year? I don’t know. And frankly, I don’t care. We came into the Fed meeting with the spirit of our portfolios intact since early November. A few changes at the margin here and there. I thought there could be a 1-2% pullback between Thanksgiving and today as it is a […]
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Date: December 15, 2023
