The United States’ airstrike January 3, 2020, near Baghdad, Iraq, that killed a top Iranian military general was a major escalation in Mideast tensions. Iran’s retaliatory strike January 8 sent a message, but additional responses can’t be ruled out. We discuss what...
ECONOMY: U.S. ECONOMY’S PROMISING END TO 2019 The U.S. economy wrapped up 2019 with a batch of generally promising data as U.S.-China trade tensions died down. The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index (LEI) rose 0.1% year over year in November, its slowest pace...
As we begin 2020, we’ve had a chance to reflect on what was an unprecedented decade for financial markets. The 2010s taught long-term investors two important lessons: to ignore short-term market noise and to be prepared for volatility. It was a curious time, but many...
Happy New Year! What a difference a year makes. One year ago the stock market was plunging and came perilously close to ending what has become the longest bull market ever recorded. In December 2018, dropping stocks were suggesting an increased risk that a recession,...
2019 was a difficult year to forecast after 2018 ended with the worst December since the Great Depression. While our positive stock market outlook proved too conservative, we are pleased to report we got more right than wrong for 2019. Here we recap our 2019...
Clarity from the phase-one trade deal with China and United Kingdom election results could help shift stock market performance drivers more toward investing fundamentals in 2020. We expect stocks to appreciate in line with earnings growth next year, which justifies...
