Market News – April 6, 2020

Market News

CARES ACT and ITS IMPACT ON RMDs: As you may know, the recently enacted “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” or CARES Act included a provision to suspend required minimum distributions from IRA’s also known as an ‘RMD’ in 2020 for everyone. An RMD is typically required for people with IRA’s who are age…

April 7, 2020

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Market News – March 16, 2020

Market News

BEAR MARKET:  After peaking on February 19, the S&P 500 dropped 26.64%.  Therefore, we officially entered into bear market territory.  Markets bounced substantially on Friday to stem the losses quite a bit.  The steep sell-off is, of course, being driven by the coronavirus pandemic, and volatility is being fueled by computer-aided, algorithm-based trading programs.  February…

March 16, 2020

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Market News – March 9, 2020

Market News

WILD WEEK (THAT ENDED POSITIVE):  This was a week of wild ups and downs.  Panic and greed showed up in force on alternative days.  After the panic, people who wanted to “buy the dip” showed up, and on it went.  Coronovirus has brought us sufficient uncertainty to create days of panic selling.  On Monday, after…

March 9, 2020

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Market News – March 2, 2020

Market News

DOWN FROM THE HIGH:  It took a virus.  On February 19 the S&P 500 closed at a record high.  American stocks in particular seemed to be covered in Teflon as none of the coronavirus news was sticking, and stocks continued to climb.  Since then, the S&P 500 suffered its fastest ever 10% decline from an…

March 2, 2020

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Market News – February 24, 2020

Market News

CAN’T SHAKE THIS VIRUS:  The U.S. stock markets finally succumbed to the virus this week.  After a mostly flat week, markets declined sharply on Friday when China’s National Health Organization reported more than 75,000 confirmed corinavirus cases and over 2,000 deaths on the mainland.  South Korea reported over 200 cases.  Now, even if the virus…

February 24, 2020

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Market News – February 17, 2020

Market News

U.S. MARKETS SHAKE OFF CORONAVIRUS:  I assumed that if the coronavirus news kept getting worse, U.S. stocks would suffer.  Factories have closed, spending has been curbed and supply chains disrupted in the world’s second largest economy.  U.S. stocks are being affected, but not by much.  Among the S&P 500 companies, 5.8% of sales are generated…

February 18, 2020

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Market News – February 10, 2020

Market News

CORONAVIRUS BRINGS A VERY STRONG WEEK TO A HALT:  U.S. stocks enjoyed a four day winning streak until Friday when Coronavirus fears came back into focus and ended it.  The virus is beginning to impact China’s economy, and that has markets worried.  Estimates for China’s GDP growth are now being lowered.  Up until Friday, continued…

February 10, 2020

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Market News – January 3, 2020

Market News

WATCHING AN OUTBREAK:  We have seen this movie before.  In real life, we have seen flu outbreaks originate from the Far East as well as SARS.  There have also been lots of movies on this subject, so it is easy to imagine the worst.  As the spread of this disease unfolds, and more facts come…

February 3, 2020

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Market News – January 27, 2020

Market News

I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF:  I read an article by Paul Merriman on MarketWatch’s website this week.  The title was “The No. 1 Secret to Long-Term Investment Success.”  Before you read on, stop and see if you can think of what he says it is……Okay, time’s up.  He says, “The key to…

January 27, 2020

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Market News – January 21, 2020

Market News

HERE COME THE NEW HOMES:  “Housing starts” measures the number of new residential construction projects begun in any particular month.  Housing starts in December were over 16% better than the month before, and 40.8% better than December of 2018.  December’s number was the highest it has been since December of 2006 (end of the bubble). …

January 21, 2020

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