A Tough October

Looking Back at October   The S&P 500 lost 6.8% in October 2018 (total return). It was the worst month in more than seven years (since the September 2011 loss of 7.0%).  It was also the worst October since the index fell 16.8% in October 2008, the beginning of the global real estate crisis. The…

Sustainable Investing

As consumers continue to raise expectations of being social responsibility for our planet, they have also become very aware of companies that are socially aware and taking responsibility for their environmental impact.  Early on, companies taking an active role in being environmentally conscientious tended to be small with products or services that were difficult to…

Terminology: Exchange Traded Funds

An ETF is a security that tracks an index, commodity or a basket of assets. Each ETF has a preselected collection of stocks or bonds. ETFs are less costly than purchasing mutual funds or even buying individual stocks. Each time you buy or sell an individual security you pay trading costs, while an ETF is…

Looking Back to Look Ahead

Looking Back at August The second quarter growth rate for our gross national product was reported at 4.3%. This and other indicators imply that our economy is growing, our labor market is strong and wages have risen slightly. Despite some “noise” about jitters, the economy is growing and consumer spending and sentiment are very strong.…