Ann Arbor MI Asset Management Firm
Hey Bud – Can I Have a Rate Cut?! Some seem to look at the Fed as a drug dealer of sorts –whenever things get a little rough in the market or economy, they look to the Fed to cut interest rates to make everything feel better again. There is a danger …
The Story of Interest Rate Hopes and The Wall of WorryRead More
The Market Bounces Back! As quickly and notably as the market fell during the 4th quarter, it did the complete opposite this quarter. What does this mean, if anything? It certainly suggests market turns of momentum are often based more on perception …
Fourth Quarter Falls & Follies After an almost 10 year bull market, many were wondering when stocks would finally feel the effects of gravity and trend downward. Though history convincingly shows that the stock market rises over time, it also …
Bitcoin Chitchat Late last year, around the holidays, as Bitcoin was hitting its peak price, I found myself at social gatherings being asked about the Bitcoin phenomenon. It felt similar to the dot-com craze of the late nineties. My typical response …
This is Financial Planning? Northwestern Mutual Insurance Co. recently aired a commercial where a sweaty and tired dad is mowing his backyard lawn on a hot day while his surly teen daughter yells that she’s going to a friend’s house, presumably …
Tax Cuts for Who and for What? Congress recently passed a record-breaking tax cut, mostly for businesses. Having studied economics, I’m unconvinced that cutting taxes, and thus increasing the deficit, makes sense--particularly when the economy has …
CEO’s Win the Lottery, But Do Shareholders and Employees?Read More
Activity Below the Surface As the stock market continues its smooth glide-path higher to the surprise of many, there are indications of nervousness underneath. Similar to the late ‘90’s, reactions to fairly straight-forward quarterly earnings …
Good Times Are Rolling, but Character Should Count TooRead More
Unusual Times…..for Now Passive (index) investing is the latest investment trend and it comes with some obvious advantages. One, passive investment fees are very low – an important issue to all investors. Secondly, with index investing you’ll never …
Unusual Times…..for Now GDP (gross domestic product) growth is a key factor in the health of the U.S. economy, though it’s not something a lot of people pay close attention to. Even if you don’t know or much care about GDP, I think you’ll find this …
A Quarter Century and Counting This issue marks 25 years writing the Stockboy. As is often said, time goes fast. I’m not sure how much I’ve changed from an investor perspective over that period, but it’s more than the market has changed. The …
2016: A Year of Surprises Two words summarize the surprising tone of the 2016 markets: Trump and Brexit. If boiled down further: unpredictable. Nevertheless, by year’s end, most investors were reasonably content with the markets’ results, even if …
Wells Failure, Inc. Recently it was revealed that Wells Fargo Bank had fired 5300 employees for opening up over a million new accounts for customers that didn’t request them. This is particularly surprising for a bank that is widely considered (and …
Brexit, Stage Left! The results of the recent Brexit vote stunned many, perhaps as much by how we found out about it as how the vote went. Running up to the election, and even during election day, the ‘stay’ votes were the assumed winners. English …
It’s Taken All of 3 Months Last quarter’s Stockboy predicted a few market changes. One, value stocks had a good chance to lead growth stocks in 2016, since growth stocks had such a strong 2015. Two, this year’s early market fall had a decent chance …
2015 in Review 2015 will likely be remembered as a ‘flat’ year in the stock market, according to the results of the S&P 500. In fact, 2015 was almost unprecedented in its lack of volatility and keeping close to where it started the year. Only a …
