A Look at Two Key Sectors as Markets Quiet Down
Markets have really quieted down as we get into the meat of December. That’s a plus for the bulls as the bears finally have some things on their side of the ledger to cling to. After such an amazingly powerful rally, the longer the bulls can hold off any meaningful pullback in stocks, the more likely the market will resolve itself higher sooner than later. As I have mentioned, we have a seasonal headwind for another week or two and […]
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Date: December 6, 2023
Future-Proofing Your Retirement: Tackling Economic Volatility in 2024
If you listen to the “talking heads” in the media these days, you’ll hear about the potential for a recession in 2024, continued inflation, higher-than-normal interest rates, and, if that isn’t enough, the impact of a presidential election year. It all adds up to an unpredictable market and some volatile conditions. So, what does this mean for your investments and retirement plans, and what can you do to prepare for these market conditions? Doing nothing may not be an option. […]
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Date: December 4, 2023
But Paul…
For most of the year, all we heard about was that 7 or 8 stocks were the only ones going up while 493 languished. That’s not exactly true, but you get the picture. Additionally, I consistently pushed back that if you know the market was being dominated by a handful of stocks, no one was preventing you from owning some. Bears didn’t like that argument. In the upper chart below you will see the S&P 500. The lower chart in […]
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Date: December 4, 2023
Bulls Surprising Even Me
The markets had a nice mark up into month-end on Thursday. It was one of those “funny” last 30 minutes when everything suddenly jumped higher as if someone was manipulating it. Surely, that would never happen. We have the final month of the year beginning today and it is a positive seasonal day. A week ago, I thought the S&P 500 would stop before it hit new highs for 2023, but today, I guess that’s where it’s headed which is […]
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Date: December 1, 2023
Stocks Look Full As Gold Breaks Out & Bears Scream About Small Caps
Post-Thankgiving, I slightly tempered my bullish exuberance over the very short-term, meaning the next few weeks. It wasn’t enough to take any meaningful action as the downside looked limited and I do not have high conviction. But the market looks a bit tired and full from its big November meal. And for those who pay attention to the trades I post at the end of each blog, we have done very little across our 18 strategies over the past few […]
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Date: November 29, 2023
Some Weakness Possible – Volatility At New Lows
I hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend if you were able to take Friday off. We hosted as usual, but my mom came over, commandeered the kitchen and did most of the cooking to give my wife a little break. Of course, I did my best to open the wine and watch football. After all, America’s Team was playing on America’s holiday. And winning in grand fashion I might add. Yes, the Dallas Cowboys are great […]
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Date: November 27, 2023
Break Free from Financial Biases for a More Comfortable Retirement
As a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor in New Haven, I’ve seen firsthand how financial biases can be the unseen pitfalls in the path of many people seeking a comfortable retirement. Using proactive, defensive retirement planning and sophisticated investment management strategies, we aim to help you prepare for and manage market volatility and other factors that can negatively impact your hard-earned retirement assets. But here’s the catch: even savvy investors succumb to potential biases that cloud judgment and cause poor financial […]
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Date: November 27, 2023
It MUST Be a Bear Market
For the past 14 months, I have pounded the table that the bear market ended in October 2022. To be 100% accurate I started this thesis in late September 2022 and it’s all in the blog archives, the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s also in the media section. I have watched so many people turn bearish from June through August 2022 after stocks had already seen the vast majority of their bear market damage. And those folks largely […]
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Date: November 22, 2023
The Three Musketeers Have Fallen – What Will The Bears Say Now?
This is going to be a quick update as I am catching a flight home. Throughout the Q3 pullback I often discussed the three keys for a durable bottom. They were crude oil, rates and the dollar. I continually received push back that there was no way rates and crude could go lower although people always seem to hate the dollar. Well my friends, price never lies. Let’s start with crude oil. I would say $96 t0 $72 is a […]
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Date: November 20, 2023
***Q3 Client Update***
The third quarter of 2023 was another tale of two halves. The markets came off a strong first half of 2023 and kept on going in July. That’s where the fun ended. So many investors who sat on the sidelines for the first 6 months of 2023 couldn’t stand the gain regret and finally plowed into the stock market and other “risk on” assets in July. We know this factually by looking at money flows, sentiment surveys and the options […]
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Date: November 17, 2023
