How does the 50% decline in oil prices impact investor portfolios?
If you are like me, you are grinning at the pump. Who would have predicted gas prices at less than $2 a gallon? But as gas prices tumble, many investors wonder whether what's good for the wallet is good for retirement.
Repository's Dec 2014 "Ask The Investor"
Soon, many of us will make 2015 New Year's resolutions. If you are like me, you will have great intentions on Jan. 1 to begin eating healthier and working out every day. But after a few weeks, we inevitably revert to our old ways.
Repository's November "Ask The Investor"
We've all stood at the grocery store wondering whether we should switch to another checkout line, thinking to ourselves "Would it be faster?" So we make the move and almost immediately realize it was the wrong choice. If we hadn't switched lines … well, you know how it goes.
It's been an active news cycle over the last quarter—most of which has been unsettling: the Ukraine invasion by Russia, the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, hundreds of missiles aimed at Israel, and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Just when we don't think there can be any more turmoil in the world, we now have fears of an Ebola epidemic.
U.S. stocks continued their run of gains in the third quarter—albeit at a slower pace. The S&P 500 Stock Index closed out September with a year-to-date total return of 8.34%. That's not a big bump from the gain of 7.14% it had garnered by the end of the second quarter—a quarter that saw the benchmark advance by more than 5%. Advancing but looking a little tired, don't you think? No surprise, really, when you consider the S&P has gone almost 1,100 days without a 10% correction.
For most, long-term anything is difficult. It goes against our grain. It's the grass is always greener syndrome. We offer contrarian wisdom here: the person who thinks the grass is always greener, is not tending his or her own lawn. This is why investing, or rather good investing requires a rational, business-like approach.
As some of you may know, the Beese Fulmer family welcomed a new member into our ranks on May 6 when our co-worker Nick Perini and his wife, Jillian, became proud parents of Lido James Perini. Lido is a bit of an unusual name to most of us, so think of car magnate Lee Iacocca, whose birth name was also Lido.
Certainly the GDP number released a few weeks ago qualifies for our lead in the "bad news" category. First-quarter GDP of -2.9% was a reading no one expected. Okay, so the revisions had gradually come down to an expected contraction of 1%, but a number nearly three times as bad made the first quarter of 2014 the worst three-month period for the economy in five years.
All kidding aside, there is nothing uglier in the country's political life than the IRS scandal. That this most powerful agency has become so politicized that not one whistleblower has stepped forward is shocking. The brazenness displayed by employees destroying the emails of those about to be questioned by members of Congress exhibits a sense of total immunity from punishment that is, frankly, tremendously disheartening.
By way of tribute to World Cup soccer season, we've titled this edition of our Outlook using the original name of a famous "spaghetti western" that debuted in U.S. movie theaters as "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly." When you're finished reading, we hope you don't think we've flopped in our efforts to make this report an entertaining one! No writhing allowed!