For an in-depth look at the world capital market performance and a timeline of events during the past quarter, here is our Quarterly Market Review: About Christopher Jones Christopher Jones is the Founder and President of Sparrow Wealth Management, a fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. Before entering the investment field, Chris was a management consultant for Deloitte Monitor. […]
Client Letter – Q3 2016
The third quarter defied expectations as world stock markets (with the exception of Great Britain) rose in the wake of uncertainties from the spring Brexit vote, the hotly contested U.S. presidential race, the threat of higher short-term interest rates, domestic and foreign terrorist attacks, international banking turmoil, and more. The following chart shows the 3-month, 1-year, and 5-year performance of […]
Presidential Elections and the Stock Market
This November, Americans will be heading to the polls to elect the next president of the United States. It is shaping up to be a very close race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, two candidates with very different visions for the country overall. The outcome of this presidential election may have an impact on taxes and health care. Is there a way […]
Wells Fargo Incentive Structure Leads to Epic Scandal
If you have been reading the financial news lately, you have probably heard about the recent Wells Fargo scandal. Employees of Wells Fargo had an internal goal to sell “at least eight financial products per customer,” according to CNN Money. This led employees to create over 2 million fake credit card and bank accounts without the consent of its customers. Wells Fargo […]
Is Now a Good Time to Be in the Market?
Is now a good time to be in the market? The answer is simple (for long term goals): “It is always a good time to be in the market,” says Evelyn Zohlen, a Certified Financial Planner™ professional. “Whether or not you are in the market has nothing to do with what is happening today. It has everything to do with your […]
Controlling What You Can Control
A few months ago, I posted a blog titled, The Only Goal That Matters Is Yours. It included content from Carl Richard’s excellent blog, The Behavior Gap, and spoke about your financial plan being a road map to your personal and financial goals. This talk from Dave Butler, Head of Global Financial Advisor Services at Dimensional Fund Advisors, reinforces this point. […]
Professor Eugene Fama on the Volatility of Premiums
“You don’t get premiums for nothing,” says Professor Eugene Fama, “They are there because you are bearing risk. And that’s the nature of the risk, you could have long periods of time when things just don’t work out. Short, recent periods of data really don’t tell you anything about whether anything has changed.”
Can Volatility Predict Returns?
In this Issue Brief, Dimensional Fund Advisors examines the relationship between current volatility and subsequent returns. When volatility spikes, remaining disciplined in your investments can be challenging. Pundits are quick to link volatility to any number of impending “crises” and to predict that short term returns will be poor, “Brexit” being a recent example of this.
Investors should consider a well-diversified global strategy
Last month, I posted a blog about the importance of owning emerging markets in your portfolio. This blog post is a continuation of that discussion and includes a pop quiz. Please take a few minutes to watch the video below by Joel Hefner, a VP with Dimensional Fund Advisors.
Quarterly Market Review – Q2 2016
For an in-depth look at the world capital market performance and a timeline of events during the past quarter, here is our Quarterly Market Review:
