Following up from last week’s post, a reader wrote that it would be more realistic to compare how the broader stock market performed under Trump than under previous presidents. Frankly, I don’t see the value of this exercise. As I stated in my last post, I believe that at best a president can only indirectly…
Read more

In his State of the Union address this week President Trump touted the “great” U.S. economic performance during the first two years of his presidency as one of his key accomplishments. Although he did not mention U.S. stock market performance in the speech (likely because it did so poorly last year), he is also on…
Read more

Among all the different types of investments available these days, U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds are the only securities considered risk-free. Given the current volatility stock markets worldwide are experiencing, it’s natural for investors to start thinking about adding treasuries to their portfolios to mitigate the risk. The decision, though, is a bit complex…
Read more

This has not been a happy holiday for the U.S. stock market. As of this writing the S&P 500 is down about 20%. The month of December is on track to be the worst for stocks in 50 years, and the large market drop the day before Christmas, ordinarily a quiet trading session, was record-breaking.…
Read more