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Bob's Journal

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Bob’s Journal for 3/9/23

March 9, 2023

Some Notable Events That Grabbed My Attention This Week I participated in a number of podcasts recently to discuss my latest book, “Retirement Watch: The Essential Guide to Retiring in the 2020s.” There were a couple of great discussions you might want to listen to. One is my appearance on “Retire with Purpose” with Casey […]

Bob’s Journal for 3/2/23

March 2, 2023

Why Interest Rates Haven’t Peaked Investment markets indicated investors thought interest rates peaked in late 2022. The yield on the 10-year treasury bond reached 3.96% in October 2022 and began falling. By late January 2023, the yield was below 3.50%. Throughout that period, futures markets prices indicated investors believed interest rates would decline steadily for […]

Bob’s Journal for 2/23/22

February 23, 2023

Higher Valuations Prop Up Stocks We’re well past the midpoint of the earnings season for the fourth quarter of 2022, so we can draw some conclusions. There is some good news, but it’s not especially good news. About 68% of the companies that reported so far had earnings higher than analysts’ pre-report estimates. Also, 65% […]

Bob’s Journal for 2/15/23

February 16, 2023

Key RMD Changes in The SECURE Act 2.0 You Should Know It is hard for people to keep up with the more than 100 changes the SECURE Act 2.0 made in retirement plans and related tax code provisions. Here’s a summary of the key changes in required minimum distributions (RMDs) in the law that was […]

February 9, 2023

Beware of a Potential Stock Market Bear Trap Major stock indexes turned a corner at the start of 2023. After losing about 18% in 2022, the S&P 500 is up more than 7% so far in 2023. The Nasdaq 100 went from a 32.58% loss in 2022 to about a 14.01% gain this year. Several […]

Bob’s Journal for 2/2/23

February 2, 2023

Take a Deep Dive Into the Latest Inflation Data It’s time for a close look at the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. I last did this in the July 21, 2022, entry for Bob’s Journal under the headline “Inflation Is Deeper and Broader Than Many Believe.” I stated that “inflation is well-embedded in the […]

Bob’s Journal for 1/25/23

January 26, 2023

Happy 30th Birthday to the ETF The first exchanged-traded fund (ETF) began trading on January 22, 1993. The relatively low-profile event began a revolution in investing that continues. Before the ETF, individual investors had two choices. They could buy individual stocks (and pay brokers’ commissions or trading fees). Or they could buy shares in mutual […]

Bob’s Journal for 1/19/22

January 19, 2023

China’s Shrinking Population Affects the Global Economy and Markets IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: We are having our Eagle Virtual Trading Event on Thursday, Jan. 19. If you haven’t signed up for this yet, there’s still time. Just click here now to sign up for free. Believe me, you won’t want to miss this online event — as we bring together […]

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