As an investment consultant and portfolio manager for different clients, I manage a number of different investment strategies. Once you understand my investment philosophy, you’ll understand why I manage these strategies the way I do. I share the investment commentary on these strategies here. U.S. CORE STRATEGIES The U.S. Core strategies provide long-term exposure to
Investment Strategies Update – Q4 2025 Read More »
Diversified Global Investors Were Rewarded in Q4 and 2025 Diversified global investors were rewarded in Q4 and throughout 2025. The year witnessed a significant shift where foreign equities outperformed domestic markets, precious metals outperformed equities, and the U.S. dollar weakened against foreign currencies. In the U.S., the S&P 500 Index rose 2.66% in Q4 and
Market Update – Q4 2025 Read More »
SUMMARY Since my last Outlook & Positioning piece on September 12th, global equity and bond markets have continued to grind higher overall. This year has been defined by resilience, where a combination of international market strength, the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI), a persistent move to gold, and investors chasing speculation. Although financial markets
Investment Outlook & Positioning – December 10, 2025 Read More »
To Convert or Not to Convert… That is the Question It’s that time of year again when investors with Traditional IRAs consider converting some (or all) of those IRA assets to a Roth IRA. One of the most common questions we get asked involves the strategy of converting a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
Roth IRA Conversions Read More »
As an investment consultant and portfolio manager for different clients, I manage a number of different investment strategies. Once you understand my investment philosophy, you’ll understand why I manage these strategies the way I do. I share the investment commentary on these strategies here. U.S. CORE STRATEGIES The U.S. Core strategies provide long-term exposure to
Investment Strategies Update – Q3 2025 Read More »
Equity and Bond Markets Continue to Rally Higher in Q3 Investors enjoyed solid performance from global equity and bond markets in Q3 as the global economy and corporate earnings continued to show growth, emboldening investors to embrace risk. The S&P 500 Index returned 8.12% and the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index, which measures international developed
Market Update – Q3 2025 Read More »
SUMMARY Since my last Outlook & Positioning piece on June 9th, the global equity markets continued to move higher and bond prices have rallied in addition to generating attractive income. As you can see in the chart below, volatility as measured by the S&P 500 Volatility Index (VIX) has declined from its spike in March
Investment Outlook & Positioning – September 12, 2025 Read More »
It never seems to fail. These Wall Street investment strategists just seem to always be chasing their tails. Markets Decline -> Wall Street adjusts forecasted price targets lower. Markets Rally -> Wall Street adjusts forecasted price targets higher. On April 17th of this year, after the markets experienced a quick, severe decline following President Trump’s
Wall Street Strategists Chasing Markets Again Read More »
Equity Markets Rebound on U.S. Tariff Pause in Q2 Global equity markets were volatile in Q2, coinciding with President Trump’s tariff rates announcement and the subsequent pause in early April. Coming into Q2, equity markets were in decline as investors anticipated President Trump’s tariff “Liberation Day” announcement on April 2nd. When announced, the new tariff
Market Update – Q2 2025 Read More »
As an investment consultant and portfolio manager for different clients, I manage a number of different investment strategies. Once you understand my investment philosophy, you’ll understand why I manage these strategies the way I do. I share the investment commentary on these strategies here. U.S. CORE STRATEGIES The U.S. Core strategies provide long-term exposure to
Investment Strategies Update – Q2 2025 Read More »
SUMMARY It’s been an interesting last few months. I hope you were prepared for the volatility. In the midst of the market decline in March, I provided my updated views in my Outlook & Positioning piece. You can read it here… Outlook & Positioning March 17, 2025 Since my March Outlook & Positioning piece, President
Outlook & Positioning – June 9, 2025 Read More »
Here we go again. Wall Street strategists continue to chase the market, this time adjusting their year-end target forecasts for the S&P 500 Index lower after the market declined. Last year, they chased the market higher, increasing their forecasts after the market rallied. Below is a list of Wall Street firms and their 2025 year-end
Wall Street Strategists’ Guesses Follow Markets Lower Read More »
As an investment consultant and portfolio manager for different clients, I manage a number of different investment strategies. Once you understand my investment philosophy, you’ll understand why I manage these strategies the way I do. I share the investment commentary on these strategies here. U.S. CORE STRATEGIES The U.S. Core strategies provide long-term exposure to
Investment Strategies Update – Q1 2025 Read More »
Global Equity Markets Mixed While Bonds Rally in Q1 Financial markets began the year relatively strong, and investors were bullish following the Republican sweep of the November elections. As President Trump and his administration took office, investors were looking for direction. In a short period of time, the Trump administration quickly announced tariffs, immigration directives,
Market Update – Q1 2025 Read More »
SUMMARY Remember volatility? Here we are again. Following the Republican sweep in the November elections, investors were optimistic about the potential for a strong business environment under Republican leadership. I’m not going to rehash my commentary on and concerns with the potential issues surrounding tariffs, government spending cuts, immigration/deportation, inflation pressures, etc., but these are
Outlook & Positioning – March 17, 2025 Read More »
Following the November U.S. elections, there was a general sense of investor bullishness based on what I considered a “default” belief that Republicans are good for the economy and risk assets. My concern was that even with a Republican sweep of the November elections, there was still a ton of uncertainty around inflation, tariffs, taxes,
Political Uncertainty and Weaker Economic Data Impacting Financial Markets Read More »
Strong Year for U.S. Equities; Bonds Were Mixed 2024 was another strong year for investors in the U.S. equity market. The S&P 500 Index ended the year up 25.0% and the NASDAQ 100 Index was up 25.9%. Smaller U.S. companies lagged large caps in 2024, with the Russell 2000 Index rallying 11.5%.1 The U.S. equity
Market Update – Q4 2024 Read More »
As an investment consultant and portfolio manager for different clients, I manage a number of different investment strategies. Once you understand my investment philosophy, you’ll understand why I manage these strategies the way I do. I share the investment commentary on these strategies here. U.S. CORE STRATEGIES The U.S. Core strategies provide long-term exposure to
Investment Strategies Update – Q4 2024 Read More »
Well, it’s that time of year again to take a look at Wall Street strategists’ year-end S&P 500 Index guesses (forecasts). Without looking, how do you think they did? For the record, I don’t envy the strategists’ job having to provide a price target for the S&P 500 Index, and I’m probably sure they don’t
Wall Street Strategists’ Forecasts 2024/2025 Read More »
SUMMARY Well, the uncertainty of the elections is finally over, but the uncertainty of government policies remains. For the moment, investors are giving the Republican majority the benefit of the doubt. In simplistic terms, without doing any deep work and taking a leap of faith, investors will tend to assume that a Republican majority across
Outlook & Positioning – December 11, 2024 Read More »
