Creating a Sustainable Retirement Lifestyle
Retirement should be a time to enjoy the rewards of your hard work, but one question often on the minds of most retirees: Will my money last? For many retirees, the ultimate goal is creating a lifestyle that balances comfort and financial security without unnecessary stress. Yet, the financial world is unpredictable. Market volatility and rising costs disrupt even the best-laid plans. That’s why building a sustainable retirement lifestyle is vital. It’s not just about saving enough—it’s about managing your […]
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Date: December 23, 2024
The Most Bullish Seasonal Set Up In Years – Santa Claus To Call Broad & Wall
For the past few weeks I have discussed that seasonal studies suggested a stock market low by December 20th which coincided with the weekly, monthly and quarterly options expiration. That also happened to be the single largest expiration of all-time. As I also mentioned, while I have been in the mild to modest stock market pullback camp, I was caught off guard by the magnitude of Wednesday’s post-FOMC plunge. After Wednesday’s drop, I thought we needed one more new low […]
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Date: December 23, 2024
Powell Delivers Lump Of Coal – One More New Low Needed
On Wednesday the FOMC cut interest rates by 1/4% as expected. Stocks sold off about 1/2%. Then Jay Powell press conference began. No one seemed to like what Powell was selling. Lots of new uncertainty. Fewer rate cuts. Wait and see. Well all was said and done the “risk on” were battered, bruised and pleading for mercy. While I had been discussing a mild and modest pullback I absolutely did not expect that kind of magnitude on the downside. As […]
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Date: December 21, 2024
FOMC To Cut 1/4% – Bears Still Nibbling
Today is the last FOMC meeting of 2024. Obviously, because it’s December! The market model for the day is plus or minus 0.50% and then a big move post 2pm. The market was setting up a rally after 2pm, but recent action mitigated that trend to a coin flip. There are a few outlier studies that suggest a large selloff on Fed day, but the more mainstream ones are not corroborating. Jay Powell and the FOMC are going to cut […]
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Date: December 18, 2024
Seasonal Trends About To Change
The narrow stock market rally continues along. I think the Dow Industrials have been down something like 8 straight days. Small and mids have to be close. My take on them has clearly been wrong this month. And while there seems to be a reemergence of leadership from large cap growth which we also own, I do think the broad market is going to have its day in the sun beginning this week. A number of seasonal factors turn positive […]
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Date: December 16, 2024
When My Sandwich Guy Advises Me On Bitcoin
The stock market continues to digest and consolidate the recent move to all-time highs. However, everything is not in sync. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 behave the best while the Dow Industrials, S&P 400 and Russell 2000 are relative losers. While I thought this would happen, I also thought it would be a Q1 2025 story and not right here. All in all, as you can see below, none of the struggling indices look like death. Rather, they look […]
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Date: December 13, 2024
Pullback! Bears Get More To Chew On
Two straight down days for the stock market. We haven’t seen that since mid-November. The mid and small caps have pulled back more. Seasonally, this is a mild soft patch that lasts into the 20th. Some things I am thinking about into January. Is this just another mild pullback that will lead to new highs on the next push? Or, will stocks bounce over the holidays and roll over harder come January like they did in 2022? Could both scenarios […]
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Date: December 11, 2024
Bears Getting Some Food
Interesting day on Friday. The Dow Industrials were down -.28% while the S&P 500 was up .25% and the NASDAQ 100 up .92%. More stocks went down than went up the NYSE. In the chart below you can see the S&P 500 in the upper panel with the NYSE Advance/Decline Line in the lower panel. See how the S&P has been making a series of new highs? Now look below that at the NYSE A/D. It has been going down […]
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Date: December 9, 2024
Inflation-Proofing Your Retirement Portfolio
Inflation has been a major topic of discussion in the last few years. The rising cost of living is more than an inconvenience—it’s a threat to financial security, especially in retirement. Groceries, utilities, and healthcare costs have steadily increased each year. You’re not alone in worries about inflation eroding your savings and making it harder to meet expenses without depleting your nest egg. The good news? There are strategies you can use to help mitigate inflation’s impact on your retirement […]
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Date: December 9, 2024
Job Growth Report Should Re-Accelerate – Markets Digesting For New Big Run
Today we have the “all-important” employment report which is the last high profile economic data point released before the Fed meets on the 18th. I am usually poor at guessing what the volatile number will be although I sense a quieter number than last month when we had weather and strikes impacting it. The economy should create many more jobs than shown in the last report when it was barely positive. I would think we are looking at greater than […]
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Date: December 6, 2024
Bond Yields Need To Be Watched
I hear lots of folks pointing out flaws in the markets, but I remind people that late Q4 declines from new highs are extremely rare. Cracks usually continue into the new year before any kind of meaningful pullback is seen. Sure, we can get a 2-3% pullback anytime and certainly between now and the 20th. However, you know my thesis. Buy weakness until proven otherwise. Let’s not overthink nor complicate this. Below is the yield on the 10-Year. It had […]
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Date: December 4, 2024
A December Bear – Wait For Godot or Bigfoot?
11 down, 1 to go. December is here. And while Q4 in general during a big up year is when portfolio managers start to chase the market, December is really when the mad dash happens. Similar to 2023 when the masses entered the year bearish, 2024 has had so many managers waiting and hoping for the big decline, the drop that never came. And now, those folks, once again, are concerned about job security as their portfolios widely trail their […]
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Date: December 2, 2024
Bears Still Wrong – 47,000 Up Next
I am planning on a number of timely year-end financial and tax strategy blogs next month. I am always amazed at how few financial advisors do their jobs properly and look out for clients’ best interests as year-end approaches. Now is not the time to get lazy. The strong pre-Thanksgiving seasonal trend looks to be a bit mitigated this year. The markets remain on solid footing, but we didn’t have any weakness to set it up better. The chart below […]
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Date: November 27, 2024
Tailwinds Are Here
I am just back from CA and that was a long trip home late last night. Friends, food and fun. I did get to binge the full second season of The Diplomat which I highly recommend. I also watched some of Industry season two which is a bit dark and not enough action for me. The Eagles played on Sunday night and I since I so dislike them, I couldn’t stand to watch the whole game. Let’s start with the […]
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Date: November 25, 2024
Russia Threatens Nukes – Nvidia The Focus
The major stock market indices are within a solid day or two of all-time highs. From now into January is the most seasonally strong period. On Monday and Tuesday the war in Ukraine escalated with Russia threatening a nuclear response. Although the market fell quickly, buyers rushed in and the bulls had a big day as many scratched their heads. Remember, it’s not what the news is, but how markets react. This story doesn’t appear to be over and more […]
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Date: November 20, 2024
Key Estate Planning Tips for High-Net-Worth Individuals
Without the right estate plan, there’s a significant risk of losing large portions of wealth to taxes, probate costs, and lengthy legal disputes. Family disagreements, business partner conflicts, and creditor claims can also add emotional and financial stress, making it difficult to have one’s wishes carried out. Estate planning isn’t just about passing on wealth; it’s about making sure your assets are distributed the way you intended while minimizing taxes and protecting your legacy. Heritage Capital is a financial planning […]
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Date: November 18, 2024
Markets Giving Back Post-Election Boom
I have been saying that 2024 is not 2016 and people should not be expecting the same response. It isn’t a knock on the markets. It’s just how the markets came into the 2016 and 2024 elections. The landscape was very different. 2024 was all about the “haves” and the “have nots”, very similar to how our economy has been since the emergency COVID measures ended. On Friday, almost everything was a “have not” in the stock market. After the […]
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Date: November 18, 2024
Post-Election Market Analysis Of Winners & Losers – What To Buy & Avoid
A new video is up. Post-Election Market Analysis Of Winners & Losers – What To Buy & Avoid On Wednesday we bought more MQQQ and QQQW. We sold SPYB and EMB. On Thursday we bought SPYB. We sold EEM and PDBC.
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Date: November 15, 2024
Participation Not As Strong
The post-election, post-Fed rally has slowed. As I have said, this is nothing like 2016 and I do not believe 2025 will look anything like 2017. Markets sometimes rhyme, but rarely repeat. I don’t think they are even rhyming. Through the middle of October participation in the rally was strong and confirmed the advance. Since then it has weakened as bond proxies that trade on the exchange have been hurt by falling bond prices. The chart below is the S&P […]
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Date: November 13, 2024
Post Rally Continues – Small Caps Poised For ATHs
The post-election, post-Fed rally continued on Friday. It is clear that the election released another round of animal spirits in the markets. While I definitely enjoyed seeing portfolios increase, I have been at this too long to believe this is one of those times to close your eyes and buy everything. And nor do I ever believe the markets are seeing a “new paradigm”. These are not political statements. It’s based on 35 years of experience in the markets. Someone […]
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Date: November 11, 2024
