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Author:

Paul Schatz, President, Heritage Capital

Apple & Jobs to The Rescue

The stock market has now survived the Fed meeting, Apple’s earnings and the April jobs report. I think there is one other item, but I can’t recall. The stock market was lower into and after the Fed as Jay Powell remained hawkish, but to a lesser degree. After Thursday’s close, Apple beats expectations and the bump carried over to the pre-market this morning. While the economy created more jobs than expected in April which feeds fuel to the Fed’s fire, […]   Read More
Date: May 5, 2023

The Fed is Clueless If They Raise Rates Again Today

Here we go. Another one of those “most important Fed meetings ever” nonsense from the media. “SPECIAL Coverage”. Oh boy. I couldn’t sleep with all that anticipation. Those of you who know me know my usual sarcasm. Before I continue, let me spell out the market model for today. Stocks trade between plus and minus 0.50% until 2pm and then a bigger move happens. That’s usually to the upside, but Chair Jay Powell’s tenure has changed that a bit. With […]   Read More
Date: May 3, 2023

First Republic Goes Bye Bye

It was only a matter of time. I cannot believe everyone did not see it coming,  but some held out hope. And remember, hope is not an investment strategy. FRC was taken over by the FDIC and sold to JP Morgan is a pre-packaged deal. And what a deal it was for JPM. Congrats to Jamie Dimon for yet another fire sale steal. And yet another stock that Jim Cramer liked as recently as March. The third bank failure in […]   Read More
Date: May 1, 2023

Schizophrenic

The markets have been up and they have been down this week, looking a bit schizophrenic. I did not like what I saw on the way down on Tuesday and Wednesday and I wasn’t overjoyed about the huge rally on Thursday. And that is also represented in the amount of movement in our portfolios. Regardless of how this resolves, higher or lower, I do not want to get caught sleeping at the wheel. Between Google, Microsoft and Meta (the old […]   Read More
Date: April 28, 2023

Quick & Ugly

On Monday I wrote that this “period of no volatility should end right about now.” Well, I didn’t think it would literally be that very moment nor to the degree that stocks fell on Tuesday. The decline on Tuesday was quick, ugly and relentless. Gold offered a little haven but bonds were really the only place to hide. If you are looking to assign blame I would look at the banks and more specifically to First Republic which has been […]   Read More
Date: April 26, 2023

Recession Preparation for High-Net-Worth Individuals

The world’s economies, like our own, are never static. They’re always in motion, like tides in the various oceans. This is why, although storms such as inflation and stock market instability aren’t frequent, they’re not unheard of, either. Generally speaking, they blow in, and then, eventually, they depart. Historically, severe storms like recessions have been much rarer, but unfortunately, they can also last even longer. That is why it is crucial to keep your portfolio prepared for possible economic downturns […]   Read More
Date: April 24, 2023

Huge 10 Days Coming for Earnings

This is a huge week for Q1 earnings with many high profile technology names like Google and Microsoft reporting. Apple is not until May 4th. When the big names report there are usually outsized moves in those stocks like we saw in Tesla last week. It matters because the mega cap stocks have very large weightings in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100. So while the vast majority of stocks could do one thing, a big move by Google and/or […]   Read More
Date: April 24, 2023

Like Watching Paint Dry

The markets haven’t been all that exciting this week. Choose your analogy. Watching paint dry. Watching grass grow. I chose the former since I am in full grass planting mode and it better grow quickly next week after the sun, rain and warmth coming. Below is an index I don’t often show, but one that the masses follow religiously. It’s the VIX index which is one measure of volatility based on the options market. Typically, when stocks fall the VIX […]   Read More
Date: April 21, 2023

Tax Day Trend & Two Sectors

Adios tax day 2023! It was good to se you go. Congrats to all of my CPA readers who braved another season and survived. I feel like there was more work done this year than in the recent past with more preliminary 1099s than ever before. Twitter was abuzz about paying taxes. 10% of taxpayers pay 80% of taxes which makes sense in a progressive tax system. Liz Warren claimed that Americans are paying so much in taxes simply because […]   Read More
Date: April 19, 2023

Could a Roth Conversion Ease Your Tax Bite?

Minimizing the amount you pay in taxes is essential for weathering market downturns. However, the complexity of the U.S. tax code often makes it difficult to plan effective tax strategies on your own. This is why affluent taxpayers sometimes assume that their best option is simply to pay whatever they owe each year.  Many of them have no idea how much money they could potentially save by planning financially to lower their tax liability. One strategy worth considering, for instance, […]   Read More
Date: April 17, 2023