Wow…what an amazing end to an interesting year! Despite a steady diet of bad news, most markets around the world climbed the proverbial “wall of worry” to log strong returns. Major markets around the globe delivered double-digit total returns, and as a group, the non-US developed and emerging markets outperformed the US equity market. The following chart shows the 1-year, […]
Month: January 2013
Retirees lose out on Social Security
Many retirees are claiming their Social Security benefits too early and losing out on their chance to maximize benefits, according to figures compiled by the Social Security Administration. It’s latest statistics covering 2010 show that almost 44 percent of men took their benefits as soon as they were able to at age 62. Another 26 percent took benefits after 62 but […]
“Echo Boomers” could give a big boost to the stock market
The Baby Boom generation born between 1946 and 1964 has dominated investment markets since the 1980s. They struggled for an economic start during the repeated recessions between 1973 and 1982, but then helped to propel an 18-year bull market as they reached their peak earnings power in the 1990s. Now some market observers worry that the Baby Boomers are dragging down […]
2012: The Year It Didn’t Happen
Judging by the headlines in the financial press, investors spent much of the past year anxiously awaiting one calamity after another that failed to occur. The plunge off the so-called fiscal cliff was averted. The euro zone did not fall apart. China’s economy and stock market did not crash. The bond market did not implode. The re-election of President Barack […]
