To Inform: To paraphrase the Wizard of Oz, “Impeachment, Iran drone strikes, Recession, oh my!”  The financial markets have been dealing with a lot over the last few months.  The 3rd quarter ended on Monday, and despite the swings, it was a positive quarter for many asset classes and most portfolios.  However, as I’m writing […]

To Inform: With interest rates across the world continuing to decline, a curious thing happened here in the U.S. this week.  The interest rate on a 30-year Treasury, also known as the “long bond” dropped below the dividend yield on the S&P 500. While not unprecedented, stocks paying more in dividend income than the long […]

To Inform:  Earlier this week a capacity crowd attended our Portfolios & Pints event and we pulled topics out of a German hat (with a feather in it) to discuss with the audience.  We covered current events such as the inverted yield curve and Chinese currency devaluation as well as big-picture topics such as The […]

To Inform: On Wednesday, for a brief period in the bond market, the interest rate on the 2-year Treasury note was higher than the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury note creating a rare bond market occurrence known as a “yield curve inversion.”  (Note:  yield curve is just a fancy name for a graph of […]

To Inform:  Last week’s “To Inform” piece of Wealthnotes was titled “What a Week in the Financial Markets!” and we could say the same thing about this week.  China’s response to President Trump increasing tariffs last week was to allow their currency, the Yuan, to weaken and to ask Chinese state-owned companies to suspend imports […]

To Inform: Wow, what a week in the financial markets.  This week saw three big market-moving events: 1.  July 31, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25% in a move that was widely expected.  Before and after the announcement, the market was generally flat but had a sharp negative reaction during Chairman Powell’s press […]

To Inform:  The stock market is currently in the midst of quarterly earnings season.  As of July 25th, 61 companies within the S&P 500 are reporting their earnings for the 2nd quarter, and next week, 160 companies are reporting. So, with the stock market hovering around record highs, earnings growth for U.S. companies must be […]

To Inform: One question I (Travis) get often from people who know what line of work I’m in is “what’s driving the market?”  The financial certifications I studied years ago would suggest the answer to that question should be corporate earnings, cash flows, valuations, and economic growth.  Lately though, the conversations seem to gravitate toward […]

To Inform:  This Friday and Saturday, the G20 Summit of world leaders is being held in Osaka, Japan.  President Trump is already in Osaka as this note is being typed and multiple global issues will be discussed including global climate change, North Korea denuclearization, and tensions with Iran. Source:  www.G20.org   Perhaps the biggest focus […]

To Inform:  Earlier this week, I (Travis) attended J.P. Morgan’s Wealth Management conference in New York City.  The two-day conference was an opportunity to hear the big picture outlook on markets from J.P Morgan’s Chief Global Strategist, views on asset classes from multiple portfolio managers, and perspectives on how firms like The Joseph Group can […]