What a difference a year makes. At the beginning of 2023, I told clients to expect a strong, rebounding market. At the time, bearishness among investors was near an all-time high after a sharp market decline in 2022. In fact, the vast majority of economists and market strategists were predicting a recession to unfold by midyear. Yet, my rationale for being bullish was bas...
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In the wee hours of June 26th (5am to be exact), J.W. Burns & Company's own Andrew Derrenbacker started a marathon game of golf, spanning almost 12 hours and over 34,000 steps (the equivalent to 6 lengths of New York's Central Park). The 102 holes were played for the United Way's "Raising The Green" charity event, which in all generated $18,834 for the charity's many worthwhile causes...
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One of the many topics I address with my clients is college savings for their family. Aside from retirement planning, this can be one of the most important financial issues they face. Costs of higher education are soaring. For example, the 2022-2023 total cost at Syracuse University has breached $77,000. At the same time, student loan debt in the United States totals a mind numbing $1.7...
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“Banking is a very good business if you don’t do anything dumb.” Warren Buffett Dear Clients and Friends, As you are no doubt aware, our nation’s banking system has come under intense scrutiny in recent days. Last week, Silicon Valley Bank, a prominent institution amongst technology companies and venture capitalists, collapsed and was seized by the federal government. This ...
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“Good fortune often happens when opportunity meets preparation.” – Thomas Edison We thought we'd share some critical year-end financial planning suggestions for you and your family to review. These can put you in great financial shape for the start of the new year. Tax Loss Harvesting: If there’s one positive takeaway from 2022’s down market, it’s the opportu...
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“There is two things that can disrupt the business in this country. One is War, and the other is a meeting of the Federal Reserve Bank.” – Will Rogers I’ve been getting a lot of questions from clients who really want to understand the connection between the Federal Reserve, the economy, and the stock market – especially as it relates to their investment portfolios. As we all know, 2...
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The stock market’s decline intensified during the second quarter of 2022. The S&P 500 Index fell 16.10% for the three-month period ending June 30. For stocks, this was the worst first half of a year since 1970. Despite the pain, we believe the second half of 2022 will provide solid returns for stocks; historically, it should be noted that the vast majority of the stock market’s long-ter...
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Dear Clients and Friends, The sun has been shining lately, but the stock market has surely been putting a damper on our Spring! The stock market has had, to put it mildly, a very difficult start to the year. As I write this, the S&P 500 Index is down 17%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down 27%, and bonds, typically a safe haven during market volatility, are down about 10%! In short...
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The first quarter of 2022 was volatile for stocks. The S&P 500 Index fell 4.95%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4.57%, and the MSCI All World ex USA Index was down 5.44%. Bonds, always considered less volatile than stocks, actually declined more with the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index falling 5.93%. Obviously, rising inflationary pressures ...
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