Bob's Journal
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Bob’s Journal Update for 1/17
We’ll soon know if the recent rally in the markets will continue, because fourth-quarter earnings reports are being rolled out. Most markets had a dismal fourth quarter of 2018. But markets turned a corner after Christmas and the subsequent rallies are impressive. While the S&P 500 still is down 4.28% for the last three months, […]
Bob’s Journal 12/20/2018
Last week’s Employment Situation reports were extremely strong, but don’t use them as good indicators of the strength of the economy or its trend. The nonfarm payrolls report showed that 312,000 new jobs were created, and revisions added a total of 58,000 jobs for the previous two months. The number of new jobs was well […]
Bob’s Journal for 1/3/2019
While Treasury bonds outperformed stocks in 2018, what happened within the bond markets was more important to investors. Stocks outperform bonds over the long term, but bonds have better years from time to time. Treasury bonds have outperformed the major stock indexes for only a few calendar years since the end of the financial crisis. […]
The 2018 Market and Economic Review
Almost everyone’s 2018 predictions were wrong. But that’s almost always the case. We had another year of unexpected and startling changes in the economy and markets. Trends couldn’t have been much better than they were at the end of 2017. The economy was surging across the board, and U.S. stock indexes were moving steadily higher. […]
Bob’s Journal (12/20/2018)
Recent inflation data are sending a warning to the Federal Reserve, but the Fed doesn’t seem to be heeding it. About a year after the financial crisis hit bottom, I presented a workshop to a group of individual investors. One of the group members gave me a hard time. I had said inflation would stay […]
Bob’s Journal (12/13/2018)
It is important for investors to ignore the whipsaw actions of the markets during the last few months, because they’ve been caused by short-term news and events. Presidential tweets and rumors about policy changes cause most of the daily fluctuations in the markets. Most of the focus has been on trade conflicts with China, causing […]
How Moving Averages Are Used In Retirement Investing
Moving averages tell us a lot about the stock market, and they’re saying something interesting now. Investors often use moving averages to assess market momentum. A simple moving average is an average of the investment’s closing price over the specified period. To determine the 200-day moving average of the S&P 500, you add the closing […]
Your Retirement Finance Week in Review
The Federal Reserve might have signaled a pause in its tightening policy, but it’s too soon for investors to relax. The Fed began talking about tighter monetary policy in 2013. Then-chairman Ben Bernanke’s remarks led to what is known as the taper tantrum. Markets, especially bond markets, panicked at the notion that the Fed might […]
