Category: Markets
Stock Market vs. Economy
Between a double-digit unemployment rate, sputtering economic activity, and a pandemic that has now taken the lives of more than 120,000 people in the United States, there was plenty to be worried about as equity markets plummeted in the month of March. And after the S&P 500 declined by more than 30% from its February…
Speculating During the Pandemic
At a time when casinos around the country are temporarily closed due to COVID-19, Americans have found a new avenue for wagering: short-term trading in the stock market. In addition to stay at home orders, there have also been technological improvements that enable anytime access to trading platforms, as well as a meaningful reduction in…
Planning for Retirement in the COVID-19 Age
This article was originally published within the Savannah Morning News, found HERE. Major economic events give us a compelling reason to revisit our retirement plans, evaluate household spending and take a hard look at our long-term goals. So, with the Coronavirus shaking up the marketplace and creating uncertainty in both the job and stock markets, how…
Understanding the Benefits and Risks of Bonds
Especially in times of significant stock market volatility, bonds have an important place in a balanced investment portfolio. The income that bonds generate coupled with their relatively low-price volatility can help mitigate overall portfolio risk. Unlike stocks, which provide equity interest in a business, bonds are a form of debt in which the investor serves…
What to Focus on When Investing for the Future
As we begin a New Year and a new decade, many financial experts are polishing their financial “crystal balls” in an attempt to predict what the market will – or won’t – do in 2020 and beyond. The reality is that no one really knows how the market will perform from day to day, week…
Public vs. Private Equity
At The Fiduciary Group, our investment universe primarily consists of publicly-traded equities (stocks) and fixed income securities (bonds). From time to time, we receive questions from clients about making investments in non-publicly traded companies. We typically refer to these types of investments as private equity, which consists of capital not listed or traded on a…
Ignore Elections — Focus on the Long Term
As 2019 draws to a close, we’ve started to field an increasing number of questions about the potential impact of next year’s U.S. Presidential election. Specifically, clients are concerned about the potential impact that specific candidates and the policies they’ve advocated may have on the economy, the stock market, and their portfolio. For that reason,…
Understanding the Mutual Fund Selection Process
For many of our wealth management clients, we gain exposure to certain asset classes through hiring mutual fund managers. With thousands of available options, selecting a mutual fund is a daunting task for many investors. Understanding a fund’s track record, expenses and other publicly available attributes might be a good starting point for fund evaluation,…
Living with Uncertainty and Volatility
Over the past twenty-five years, the internet has profoundly changed many facets of our lives. And the pace of change has accelerated in the past decade with the proliferation of internet-connected mobile devices. Billions of people worldwide now have access to a wealth of knowledge. It’s a never-ending flow of news and information – instantaneous…
Thinking About Share Repurchases
When public companies generate cash, they have a handful of options: park it in a bank account; reinvest in their business; acquire other companies; pay dividends; or repurchase their stock. Among these avenues, share repurchases draw a disproportionate amount of attention. They are viewed skeptically as a form of financial engineering that is solely focused…