Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. As 2020 begins, we wanted to provide you with: (1) a 2019 financial market review, (2) a snapshot of where we are currently, and (3) some thoughts going forward. READ MORE
Detlef’s Interview with Chase Jarvis
Detlef Schrempf touches on the importance of giving back during his interview on the Chase Jarvis Live Show. Thanks, Detlef for this great reminder to be grateful for life’s blessings and give back. The perfect sentiment and start to this holiday week.
Listen to his podcast interview here.
Investing in a Time of Tweets and Tariffs
By Howard Coleman, Chief Investment Officer & General Counsel
Coldstream Chief Investment Officer & General Counsel, Howard Coleman, wrote an article for One Accord on market volatility between August and early September. He provides important information on how investors should respond to volatility caused by tweets and trade tariffs.
To read the full article on One Accord, click on this link.
September 2013 marks the five-year anniversary of the financial market collapse in 2008; we have certainly come a long way in those five years. With the S&P 500 and the Dow eclipsing all-time highs and interest rates having stayed low for the longest stretch in 50 years, most investors have already received quite a benefit from the fount of cheap money. Since September 2008, a meaningful economic recovery has taken place. Look at the results since the equity markets bottomed out in March of 2009:READ MORE
In this low interest rate environment, income-minded investors, who have some tolerance for risk may find dividend-paying stocks attractive. In fact, nearly 40% of S&P 500 companies have dividend yields above the 10-year US Treasury bond yield.
The appeal of dividend-paying stocks is easy to understand as they can provide investors with regular income regardless of market conditions. In addition, many dividend paying companies increase their dividends over time thereby creating a growing cash flow over time versus the fixed coupons of bonds. It is important to note, however, that equities typically exhibit a higher volatility of returns than bonds, and the underlying company may choose to increase, decrease, and/or eliminate the dividend at any time. Regardless, we consider dividend paying equities an important part of a well-diversified income-generating portfolio.READ MORE
Recently I was completing a registration form to subscribe to an industry publication and a commonly asked question on the application struck me in a very peculiar way. It simply asked “Which best describes your primary business activity?” I have seen this hundreds of times, yet this time it caused me to reflect differently. The first thought in my mind was the overwhelming array of service providers that are defined within our industry category (financial services) offering guidance and assistance to families of affluence, and secondly, how horrible it must be for the affluent to navigate our industry to make the right advisor decisions for their unique situation.READ MORE
On June 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional as it violates the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution as applied to persons of the same sex who reside in states that recognize same-sex marriages.
This decision entitles same-sex married couples many federal tax related benefits. These benefits will have an impact on their income tax filing status, estate and gift tax planning, employee benefits, and ability to inherit social security benefits, among others.READ MORE
“For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’”
– Bob Dylan
With a modest improvement in unemployment, a nascent housing recovery and continued accommodative Federal Reserve, the US markets continued to generate positive returns, albeit with considerable volatility in the second half of the quarter. In the prior quarter’s Market Commentary in the Guardian, Randall Buck suggested that a short term pullback in the US market would not be surprising. That forecast was prescient indeed, from late May to late June, the S&P 500® had a peak to trough correction of 7.5% then posted positive returns in the final days of the quarter. READ MORE
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy…..
– Bobby McFerrin 1988
While all of the problems the market has been worrying about for the last few years have not been solved, it seems that “the can was kicked down road” enough this quarter for investors to adopt the attitude of Bobby McFerrin. Stock market investors seem to prefer environments where the politicians in Washington “can do no harm”. Early in the first quarter clashes over the debt ceiling and spending cuts were deferred until later in the year and a compromise was reached over tax increases, turning the “fiscal cliff” into more of a “fiscal slope”. With worries about fiscal policy on the backburner, the continued pumping of liquidity into the economy through the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program and reasonable domestic economic growth, the stage was set for a market rally. The S&P 500 continued its pattern of the three previous years with a very strong first quarter rising 10.6%. Small Cap U.S. stocks, as measured by the Russell 2000 index, also advanced 12.4%.READ MORE
Coldstream had the honor of hosting Strategas Research Partners on January 23rd at Overlake GCC. Strategas’ Chief Strategist and a regular on CNBC, Jason Trennert shared his major investment themes for 2013 in a post-election environment with “fiscal cliff” uncertainty.
Watch the video: https://www.coldstream.com/events