“Don’t fight the Fed.” Old investment saying One of the popular questions we’ve received lately is what do stocks do after the first rate hike? Let’s be clear, we think the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) will leave rates low until at least 2023, but what if we get a sudden dose of inflation? This isn’t […]
“I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” George Burns The bull market continues, with the S&P 500 Index now up more than 10% in 2021. With stocks up more than 80% from the March 2020 lows, the reality is a well-deserved break or consolidation could […]
When saving for retirement, it often makes sense to contribute to employer-sponsored retirement plans to take advantage of any available employer match opportunities. However, not everyone has access to an employer-sponsored plan. Even if you do, there are reasons you may want to consider using Traditional and/or Roth IRAs to supplement your retirement savings. There […]
As we continue LPL Research’s Inflation Week, today we will examine how stocks have historically done at different inflation levels. For more color on our views on inflation, please read here and here, and look out for tomorrow’s blog, where we’ll examine some of the factors that have kept inflation low and that will likely continue to put […]
The economic recovery is gaining steam. In fact, so much so that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had to raise their U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for 2021 by more than 3 percentage points this week (from 3.2% to 6.5%). That’s a big change from December 2020, even if it does […]
In 2020, the government gave taxpayers an automatic six-month extension due to the coronavirus. Individuals who were affected by the damaging wildfires were also given additional time to meet most tax deadlines. However, in 2021, the deadline for submitting your income tax return is likely to return to the regularly scheduled time slot on April […]
The energy sector has certainly been on a wild ride over the course of the past year, perhaps the wildest of all of the S&P 500 sectors. The outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 caused such a demand shock that oil futures traded for a negative value for the first time in history, implying that someone would […]
“Bulls make money, bears make money, and pigs get slaughtered.” Old Wall Street saying. The Chinese New Year (often called the Lunar New Year) will kick off Friday, February 12, and with it will begin the Year of the Ox. Although we would never suggest investing based on the zodiac signs—it is important to note […]
The Super Bowl Indicator suggests stocks rise for the full year when the Super Bowl winner has come from the original National Football League (now the NFC), but when an original American Football League (now the AFC) team has won, stocks fall. We would be the first to admit that this indicator has no connection […]
2021 kicks off the first year of a new four-year presidential cycle. One of the most popular questions we’ve received lately is how have stocks performed historically during this political year. For starters, the S&P 500 Index historically has gained 6.8% per year during the first year of the four-year presidential cycle, but stocks have […]
