Last year, the Department of Labor rolled back implementation of regulations that would have set high standards of fiduciary care, rules heartily supported by NWCM and firms like ours. Given our disappointment in the rollback, we hoped the SEC would install a new fiduciary standard that would require all financial practitioners to adhere to the […]
DISSENT AT SEC OVER FIDUCIARY STANDARDS
Last year, the Department of Labor rolled back implementation of regulations that would have set high standards of fiduciary care, rules heartily supported by NWCM and firms like ours. Given our disappointment in the rollback, we hoped the SEC would install a new fiduciary standard that would require all financial practitioners to adhere to the […]
TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE
The yield curve inverted for the first time since 2007. Yield curve inversions have preceded the last 7 recessions. Inversions tend to happen when the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates yet long-term bond yields decline (indicating a growth slowdown). While yield curve inversions historically are a good predictor of recessions, such inversions are not […]
HISTORICAL BULL & BEAR MARKETS
The following chart shows a timeline from the 1920’s through to today. The vertical pink shadings are recessions. Unshaded periods on the timeline are economic expansions. The blue “mountain” graphics are a Bull market’s performance of the S&P 500 from the end of a Bear market—the “trough”—to the end of the Bull market—the “peak”. The […]
BEAR MARKET ON THE HORIZON?
With the worst performance in stocks for a Thanksgiving week since 1939, the S&P 500 has experienced a “correction.” Last Friday’s close is down 10% from its high of 2940 this past September earlier. The S&P 500 is flat for the year, the foreign stock markets are down 10% or so, and the US bond […]
MARKET PULLBACKS
Six trading days ago, the Dow Jones Average closed at an all-time high. Yesterday’s 3%-plus drop of 831 points in the Dow was the biggest in 8 months. With the Dow down another 546 points today, this index is now 1,736 points of its high—a 6.93% decline. (A 10% decline is considered a “correction”.) What […]