bull market

Investor Greed Prevention Plan

Investor Greed Prevention Plan

Was the fourth quarter of 2018 just a bad dream for investors? It sure looks like it now. With just two trading sessions left in the month, the S&P 500 is on track to close out the first four months of the year with its best results in 32 years (1987), has rallied more than 20 percent from the December lows, and has also bested its previous all-time high!

Another Slow Summer Week for Markets…NOT!

Another Slow Summer Week for Markets…NOT!

It used to be that the last couple of weeks in August were slow ones for investors. Well, not this year. Neither the double whammy of Michael Cohen’s pleading guilty and Paul Manafort’s conviction, nor the escalating economic problems in emerging markets (Venezuela and Turkey) could keep stock market indexes from reaching new highs.

Tax Cut Fails to Spur Growth

Tax Cut Fails to Spur Growth

What happened to the tax cut bump to economic growth? After expanding by a brisk 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and the 3.3 percent rate in the third quarter, the economy decelerated a bit in the first quarter to an annualized pace of 2.3 percent, consistent with good, not great growth.

Rooting for a Recession...and a Bear Too!

Rooting for a Recession...and a Bear Too!

I have a confession: I’m rooting for a recession -- and a bear market. Of course I don’t want people to suffer, but the longer both the expansion and bull market continue, the more we tend to forget that they can actually end, leading some to make poor financial decisions.

Goldilocks Appears for a Bull Market Anniversary

Goldilocks Appears for a Bull Market Anniversary

What better way to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the bull market than with a strong employment report?  The economy created a better than expected 313,000 new jobs in February, higher than the anticipated 200,000. The strength was seen across a variety of sectors: retail increased by 50,300, construction was up 61,000, manufacturing added 31,000 jobs and professional & business services employment added 50,000.

Stock Market Correction: What to do Now

Stock Market Correction: What to do Now

We knew that a stock market correction was coming, but why then did everyone seem so shocked when it arrived on Februarys 8th? Corrections, defined as 10 percent drops from the recent highs (January 26th), usually occur every year or so. Until last week, it had been two full years since the major US indexes had corrected. In other words, we were overdue for a drop.

CBS This Morning: Why Stock Market's Recent Volatility is Healthy

A wild week on Wall Street came to an end with a small rally on Friday. I joined CBS This Morning to explain why such volatility might not be a bad thing.