This article is original content written by Manchester, CT Financial Advisor Thomas Scanlon, CFP®, CPA You don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to be grateful. You can be grateful every day. It’s your choice. Life might not be going swimmingly well for you every day. I get it. I truly hope you didn’t expect it … Read more
The Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) raised the Federal Funds Target Rate by .25% from .50% to .75%. The Federal Funds Target Rate is the interest rate charged to financial institutions for the trading they do with each other overnight. The last time they had raised rates was in December 2015 when the Fed had … Read more
For months prior to the presidential election, investors remained in a holding pattern, poised to see how the domestic and global markets would react. Many international markets saw pullbacks, but U.S. stock markets surprised to the upside, rewarding investors after showing signs of volatility in pre-trading hours following Election Day. The domestic market rally after … Read more
August 5, 2015 The Second Half of the Year Holds Promise The S&P 500 has been at a virtual standstill thus far this year, trading in a narrow range. July was not much different. The almost 2% rise was just enough to erase losses from June, but history suggests the broad-market index could … Read more
The second quarter ended with all eyes on Greece after the country failed to reach an agreement with its creditors. The impasse resulted in shuttered banks and imposed capital controls, at least until a July 5 referendum on whether to accept further austerity measures in exchange for a European bailout. The Mediterranean country also … Read more
May brought a flurry of market and economic information for investors to mull. First-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) fell at a 0.7% annual rate, revised down from a lackluster 0.2% gain. Corporate profits also fell, reflecting a stronger dollar, weakness abroad, adverse winter weather and possibly some seasonal adjustment issues. Pending home sales, however, climbed … Read more
January 9, 2015 New Year Rings With (Cautious) Optimism Investors who weathered the volatility of the domestic stock market in 2014 were rewarded come year-end. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended up more than 10% each, and the Dow Jones finished with a respectable 7.5% gain. The final three months were a boon, as … Read more