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.…
Blog Archives
Patience Pays Dividends
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…
Tagged with: Consumer Confidence, DJIA, Economy, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board, GDP, NASDAQ, Presidential Election, S&P 500, Stock Market
7 Reasons Not to Wait Until Thanksgiving to be Grateful
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…
Tagged with: Average Joe's, Bill Gates, CD's, College Board, EU, European Migrants, European Union, Federal Funds Target Rate, Federal Reserve Board, GDP, Germany, Grateful, Great Recession 2008-2009, Greece, Gross Domestic Product, Harvard, Manchester Community College, Mexico, Microsoft, Migrants, S&P 500, Spain, Standard & Poors 500 Index, Thanksgiving, The Fed, U-3, U-6, Unemployment Rate, Unemployment Report
All Eyes Are on The Fed
The Federal Reserve Board (“Fed”) met in mid-September 2016 and again, decided to leave interest rates unchanged. The last time they have raised interest rates was in December, 2015. They raised the target federal funds rate to a…
Tagged with: 401 (k) Plan, Abenomics, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Banks, BOJ, Brexit, CD, Cental Bank, Dow, Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, ECB, EU, Europe, European Central Bank, European Migrants, Fed, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve Board, Great Recession 2008-2009, Interest Rates, James Grant, Japan, NASDAQ, Negative Interest Rates, Paul McCartney, Pension, Prime Interest Rate, Prime Rate, QE, Quantitative Easing, Real Estate, S&P 500, Shizo Abe, Social Security, Standard & Poors 500 Index, Student Debt, U-3
The Second Half of the Year Holds Promise
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…
Greek Drama Plays Out on Global Stage
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…
Tagged with: CHINA, DJIA, Dow Jones, EAFE, Europe, EuroZone, Federal Reserve, Financial Plan, GDP, Greece, Greek Crisis, IMF, International Monetary Fund, MSCI EAFE, NASDAQ, Puerto Rico, S&P 500
Markets Prove Resilient Despite Topsy-Turvy May
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…
Tagged with: DJIA, EAFE, ECB, European Central Bank, Federal Reserve, GDP, Greece, Gross Domestic Product, Japan, MCSI, NASDAQ, S&P 500
New Year Rings With (Cautious) Optimism
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…
