Will I really get that low of a mortgage rate?
Have you been noticing all the ads and articles on the "historically low" mortgage rates? In this quick video, Rene helps us understand what these "headline" rates may really mean for you!
Should I change my portfolio before the election?
One of the most common questions we are getting these days, no matter what your political leanings are, is about the impact of the upcoming Presidential Election on portfolios. Rene gives his words of wisdom on the subject with a little bit of history for context. We're not in the business of making short term [...]
Should I Bother Owning Small Company Stocks?
The headlines will tell you that the stock market has recovered from its low point in March. However, small-cap & mid-cap stock indexes have lagged behind large-cap companies in 2020. So, what's the benefit of owning these smaller companies as part of a diversified portfolio? As always, Rene helps put it all in context. [...]
RJ’s Commentary January 2020
You all know we are a financial planning firm, investments are but a piece of your overall planning. Having said that, once a quarter we do let the investment folks have their time in the sun and allow them to share their thoughts. Hope you find Rene's quarterly commentary helpful. It has been 5 days [...]
Portfolio-based Credit – The good, the bad and the ugly
Groucho Marx famously said… “I would never want to join a club that would have me as its member” Similarly, banks love nothing more than to lend to borrowers who have no need to borrow. And the high-net-worth clients of banks’ brokerage or wealth management units are an obvious object of their affection: the portfolios they [...]
1970s Inflation Redux?
Should we fear a replay of the 1970’s High-Inflation era? Today’s jobs report points to an unemployment rate of 3.7% - the lowest since 1969, the year when the worst outbreak of inflation began to be felt. From 1969 to 1982 inflation spiked to 7.3% annually and wrecked stock and bond returns – which were negative [...]
Our Growing National Debt & Your Bonds
A significant portion of our client’s portfolios are invested in the US Bond market, so I wanted to put the current Federal debt picture in the appropriate perspective. The punch line is that we are not on the cusp of The Financial Apocalypse as some pundits will have you believe. With the help of our Bentley [...]
Even With Index Funds, You Need to Know What You Own
At Single Point we believe that index-tracking funds offer the best outcomes over high-cost stock-picking funds. As the number of trackable indexes has grown over the years – especially beyond the core Large Cap S&P500 Index - we spend a great deal of time identifying the best index to track the complimentary or ‘satellite’ asset classes. [...]
A ‘Full Trade War’ on the Horizon?
A full-blown trade war, though unlikely, would be very damaging to equities. What happened? President Trump announced that he plans to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum. Why does it matter? A ‘full trade war’ is not something we have seen since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 [...]
Market Predictions vs. Reality
Every year the big Wall Street banks publish their year-end targets for the S&P500. Think of these as a gauge of Wall Street’s collective wisdom. Their well-paid researchers crunch a ton of market and economic data. I will save you the suspense – their forecasting ability would be laughable, if it wasn’t for the fact that [...]