Uncategorized
September 28, 2020
The dominance of large growth companies these past 10 years is no secret. Every day we listen to reports about Facebook, Amazon, Apple, NVIDIA, Netflix, Google, and Microsoft. But to truly appreciate their dominance in the stock market, one needs only to look at the graph below that illustrates the outperformance of Growth vs Value. The higher up on the graph, the more the outperformance of large growth companies. Today’s outperformance dwarfs the early 2000s and the 2008/9 Great Financial Crisis. Since 1995, the outperformance of growth over value has never been higher. S&P 500 Growth Value < Source: Bloomberrg Now that […]
September 25, 2020
Everyone knows that the coronavirus has changed how we live, work, and play. As a result, people are spending more money and time on the internet than ever before. In fact, some experts estimate that Americans are spending 30% more money online1. Meanwhile, social media, teleconferencing, telehealth, and mobile payment services are playing an increasingly important role in our daily lives. Many of us are even doing our grocery shopping online! The internet makes it easier to do more things from home than we ever thought possible. But with this added convenience comes an added risk: The risk of exposing your identity and financial information […]
February 7, 2020
As a financial advisor, I get a lot of questions. Some people ask me if it’s a good time to invest in the markets, or if they should be sticking their money under a mattress. Others ask me about the economy. A few ask me about specific investments. But the most common question I get is probably the best. “What,” they ask, “is the number one tip you can give me?” So here’s my answer: Precautions are useless after a crisis! You’re probably wondering what I mean. It’s simple. When’s the worst time to buy a home-security system? After a […]
January 30, 2020
By now, you’ve probably heard about the coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan. As of this writing, there have been about 2,900 confirmed cases, with over 80 deaths.1 Most cases have been within China itself, but the virus has spread to a small number of individuals in over fifteen countries. As you can imagine, the outbreak has put global markets on edge. On Monday, the Dow dropped over 450 points due to concerns about the virus’s spread.2 While there’s no reason to be alarmed, this is a good opportunity to remind ourselves why taking a longer view is […]
November 27, 2019
The “Good Family” Blessing It has become common practice to refer to our Thanksgiving holiday as “Turkey Day.” For some people, that name is truly accurate. Not only is it mildly amusing, but if you don’t believe there’s any power beyond yourself that you ought to be thanking, it’s also more honest. If you’re a skeptic, being honest about it is good. When it comes to Thanksgiving, I’m not among the skeptics. So, I’d like to share with you a daily meal blessing that’s been used by four generations of a family I know named Good. You might want to […]
November 21, 2019
One of our favorite economic parables is the Fish Story, from Paul Zane Pilzer’s 1990 book, “Unlimited Wealth.” It is an excellent tool for thinking about wealth creation, inequality and redistribution. Imagine 10 people live on an island. Each day they wake up, catch two fish, eat them, and go back to bed. Its subsistence living at the most basic level. There are no savings – no stored or saved wealth. If someone gets sick and can’t fish, there’s no way to help them. No one has any extra. Now imagine two of these people dream up a boat and […]