For most investors, 2015 will be The Year Stocks Went Nowhere. The S&P 500, the most well known large-company stock market index (symbol SPY) closed last year on December 31, 2014 at $205.54. As of this writing, December 30, 2015, SPY closed at $205.93. That is a return of 0.19%. What did you get in…
DetailsA long time ago, I decided to collect the most important investing and trading lessons I learned over the course of the past 15 years and save it for my son (who was only three at the time), who might someday want to try his hand at the stock market. While I can’t prevent all…
DetailsOnce people find out I’m an investment manager, I’m often asked, “What should I be invested in?” Here’s the answer. For an investment portfolio to do well and stand the test of time, it should have these four elements: 1. It should be diversified. 2. Its mix of stocks and bonds should be consistent with your…
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Last week’s stronger-than-expected jobs report blew apart the expectation that the Federal Reserve would stay on the sidelines until next year to raise interest rates. Here’s a graph of the market’s expectations: So now what? Does that mean you should dump your bonds? A lot of people have been playing it safe for the…
DetailsFees are one the biggest factors that you can control that play one of the largest roles in your long term investment performance (source). In addition, with valuations near the upper end of their historical range (source), and estimates of long term returns in stocks reaching only 3-4% (source) (today’s CAPE ratio of 25.6 roughly translates…
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