Sound and Fury Family reunions. Company picnics. Grade school field day – if you can remember back that far. Usually, these are fun gatherings. Usually. And sometimes you find yourself pulled into a friendly match of tug-of-war, whether you wanted to participate or not. You’ve got a bunch of people on one end of the […]
What a difference a year makes. Well, usually … but not last year. 2015 was a year rife with divergence and volatility. The U.S. dollar soared relative to most other major currencies, and oil continued to plunge; the Fed finally raised rates in the U.S., while the European Central Bank (ECB) reduced rates there; the […]
Contrast We celebrate and give thanks each year in November, but this November was a month riddled with somber events all over the world. Friday, November 13th was an especially dark day for those affected by the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, and Europe as a whole continues to struggle to handle the inflow of […]
October is always a month of change. For those of us living in the Northern hemisphere, it’s when summer finally gives way to autumn. The colors change. The days get shorter and cooler. It becomes “football weather”. And for sports fans in the U.S., the final week of October is just about as good as […]
Investors are looking for clarity in the face of multiple financial market uncertainties—more uncertainties than most typical investors can bear. What’s going on with China? Exactly how strong is the U.S. economy? When will the Fed increase interest rates? And when will oil prices stop sliding? These are all tough questions to answer. We’ll start […]
Did you know that 2014 was the warmest year on record? Most of the U.S. enjoyed a cooler start for the summer this year, but right now it’s pretty hot for us in North Texas. Still, it’s probably not a bad time to go somewhere even cooler in these last few weeks of the summer, […]
The summer is usually a time to relax. School lets out, and you don’t have to deal with as much traffic. You might have already squeezed in a vacation or hosted a cookout or two, but the markets have not been so relaxed. Over the past three years both temperatures and blood pressures rose on […]
Spring has sprung across the U.S. and seems to have put some spring in the markets; with major stock markets across the globe enjoying positive returns for the month of April. On April 23rd, the NASDAQ finally crossed past its previous high from March of 2000. It was a welcomed improvement from the sideways environment […]
March Madness 2015 is in full swing with over 60 games having already been played. People all over the world fill out their brackets in hopes that they can predict the future, including the surprise upsets that turn an “also ran” bracket into a money winner. Those who filled out their brackets by working from […]
Are the Markets Waxing or Waning?
Both a lunar eclipse and a super-moon made for a dramatic celestial show on the evening of the final Sunday of September. A super-moon occurs when the moon’s orbit brings it closest to Earth, and a lunar eclipse leaves the moon with a rusty, reddish color. It’s interesting that only theories explain the creation of […]