Author: Christina Michalczak

The Markets Risk-on. Risk-off. If you read the financial press, you may have seen the terms “risk-on” and “risk-off”.  When investing, there is a risk-return spectrum. Stocks typically have higher risk and higher return potential than high-quality bonds. High-quality bonds have lower risk and lower return potential than stocks, although they typically have higher risk… Read more »

The Markets The market whisperer… Last week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) left the federal funds rate unchanged, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell soothed markets. He explained that conditions in the labor market were broadly in balance and inflation had eased significantly over the past two years. Overall, the possibility of recession, while rising, remained low.… Read more »

The Markets A correction and a bounce. Last week, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index moved into correction territory. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq) was already in a correction, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) was close, reported Paul R. LaMonica of Barron’s. A correction occurs when the value of an index drops… Read more »

The Markets What do weather and investing have in common? From 1991 to 2020, the average temperature of the United States was 54.7° Fahrenheit. Of course, that doesn’t mean the temperature in every state on every day was 54.7°F. The weather varied dramatically from place to place and month to month. The same is true… Read more »

The Markets Is it supposed to be doing that? At the end of last year, economists believed the chance of a recession in 2025 was relatively low. In December, economist Torsten Sløk wrote, “The outlook for the US economy remains strong with no signs of a major slowdown going into 2025.” The economy has not… Read more »

The Markets A difference of opinion. Broadly speaking, there are two types of investors: individual investors and institutional investors. Individual investors buy and sell investments to grow their personal wealth. This group of investors often works with financial advisors as they pursue their financial goals. Individual investors tend to invest smaller amounts of money than… Read more »

The Markets Why are stock markets wary of tariffs? In two of the last three weeks, tariff announcements led to late week stock market sell-offs. Stocks quickly recovered lost value, but uncertainty about the administration’s trade policy and the potential impact of that policy on U.S. companies remained. That’s likely to be the case until… Read more »

The Markets Optimism headed south on Friday. After rising for most of the week, stock markets lost momentum last Friday as economic data raised doubts about further Federal Reserve rate cuts, reported Rita Nazareth of Bloomberg. Late in the day, President Trump announced new tariffs would be imposed this week, and stocks dropped into negative… Read more »

The Markets Wait! What just happened? Last week, investors were inundated with market-moving data and news. Stock markets gyrated as investors tried to process everything that was occurring. Here’s some of what happened: China surprised the artificial intelligence industry The week got off to a rough start with major United States stock indices declining sharply… Read more »

The Markets What moves financial markets? The short answer is: Lots of things! Almost one hundred years ago, Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd wrote, “the market is a voting machine, whereon countless individuals register choices which are the product partly of reason and partly of emotion.” Today, the same holds true. Stock prices are… Read more »