If your 401(k) feels flat there's a reason. A quick glance at the chart below shows that the Dow Jones Industrial Average is below its January 2018 highs. That's right - US equities as an asset class have made virtually no progress for over a year and a half. And the picture is even worse if your are globally (properly) diversified!! The MSCI All Country World Index which includes US and Global Equities is well below the January of 2018 mark. But...we think the secular bul

Value Line (Geometric) Average. The Value Line Geometric Composite Index is the original index released, and launched on June 30, 1961. It is an equally weighted index using a geometric average. Because it is based on a geometric average the daily change is closest to the median stock price change. -Investopedia I started my career in the investment business in 1991. Back then there were a lot of great regional investment firms with still familiar names. The one I worked fo

Even after the recent political news, stocks appear to be very close to all-time highs and trading in an established long term channel. According to Bespoke Investment Group, the NASDAQ dropped over 2% for the first time in 100 trading days on Wednesday (5/17/17). This comes on the heels of exceptionally low volatility since April 24th as measured by the VIX (a volatility indicator often used to judge sentiment in stock prices) dropped into a new low trading range. Consider

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so. -Mark Twain I recently got around to watching The Big Short. I thought the movie was so good that I immediately downloaded the book to my Kindle. For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie or read the book I would certainly put both at the top of your summer list. The Mark Twain quote above was on the screen at the beginning of the movie. The Big Short chronicles the events