Near the beginning of September, equity markets were riding high at new peaks, and March’s crash seemed like a distant memory. Then fortunes changed, and the stock market experienced a harsh series of corrections. Both The Wall Street Journal and MarketWatch report that the NASDAQ’s three-day 10% drop, which began on September 3, 2020, was…
Retirement. For many, it is the final prize after a life of hard work. People get a retirement date in mind a few years in advance. They draw up plans as to what hobbies they’ll finally indulge in with their newfound time and where they’ll live. They monitor their nest egg cautiously, watching with a…
A recent decision by the Federal Reserve may have long-reaching consequences on the power of American currency. For decades, one of the monetary policy goals of the Federal Reserve has been to try to contain inflation. After a period of high inflation beginning in the mid-1960s, the Federal Reserve famously made reducing inflation its primary…
Warren Buffett, the financial genius known as “the Oracle of Omaha” and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, used to feel reluctant toward gold. For decades, he has advocated holding stocks for better growth potential over holding other assets. He has yet to publicly make any statements in favor of gold. In light of these views, some…
Well-known throughout history as symbols of wealth, and commonly recommended by experts as hedges against volatility, precious metals are a key asset in many people’s portfolios. For many people, that typically means gold or silver. After a recent record-breaking run, gold and silver have been in the spotlight of a lot of news coverage. However,…
New jobless claims have consistently remained high since March when lockdowns began across the United States. In the time since, those numbers have been decreasing, but while progress has been made, there are still signs of trouble on the horizon. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan recently upped his year-end unemployment projections. On Monday, August 3,…
Gold has been in the spotlight lately. It makes sense—last week gold broke its previous all-time high record and then kept going. This action followed months of positive momentum for the precious metal, and some experts, such as analysts at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, see it rising even higher. While this is certainly…
The unfortunate truth is, we are still facing many of the same challenges we faced back in March. While some things may have improved, it’s important that we don’t get locked into complacency. The COVID-19 crisis is ongoing here in the United States, and people are still suffering. The number of new cases of coronavirus…
With some disasters, there are warnings you can observe before the disaster is even apparent. I remember one such warning from when I grew up in the heartland of the country, Nebraska farm country. I remember seeing trouble was coming because of a group of birds. Normally, farmers want birds out of their crops. The…
It’s common to look to the stock market as a source of growth for your wealth. Many people feel right now is a good time to get back in after this year’s earlier shock. Given the circumstances, the market appears to be rather stable—at least for now. However, you might be wondering if now is…
The Fourth of July is this weekend, one of the most important holidays and one of my favorites. It’s just in time for it, too. Our country has faced some tremendous challenges this year. On top of everything else, political tensions are at a boiling point. However, at times like this, it’s important to remember…
Certain stories come to mind when people talk about inflation. Perhaps the most infamous is the hyperinflation of the German Mark in the 1920s: pictures of Marks being used as wallpaper, being burned as kindling for warmth, and even being played with by children using blocks of Marks piled into stacks. Such images seem far…
