14
Apr
2020
Corporate Bonds in Today’s Market
One of the areas of the market that we’re paying close attention to right now is corporate bonds. To raise money, companies borrow money in the form of bonds or issue stock by selling ownership in the form of equity. Corporate bonds are safer than stocks in the aggregate because if a company fails, the bond holders get their money back before the equity holders. While corporate bonds may be… Read More
13
Apr
2020
Coronavirus & Earnings Season
Earnings season kicks off this week, and although we’ve seen a few economic data releases, earnings announcements will offer a lot of information about how the coronavirus is impacting companies. Right now, according to FactSet, earnings are expected to be lower by 10 percent compared to the first quarter last year. If that’s the case, it will be the largest year-over-year decline since the third quarter of 2009, when the… Read More
6
Apr
2020
Markets Stabilizing, but Still Turbulent
There is no question that we haven’t even started to see the economic impact of the coronavirus, since all of the data that we get is in arrears. For example, last week we got two important pieces of data about unemployment that told different stories. The good news is that the unemployment rate in march was 4.4 percent, which is an increase from the previous month, but not bad. However,… Read More
30
Mar
2020
A Breath of Fresh Air
Stocks rallied in response to the fiscal and monetary policy response from the government. On the monetary side, the Federal Reserve announced that they would provide ‘unlimited’ quantitative easing (QE), and announced new facilities to support credit markets. The Fed had recently committed to buying $500 billion in Treasury bonds and $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities, and said that it would continue in the amounts needed to support smooth market… Read More
26
Mar
2020
COVID-19 and Acropolis
**UPDATE** We’d like to share an update to the original post below. Acropolis has re-opened our office. Details below: Acropolis employees have returned to the office. Clients are welcome to visit according to their comfort level. Client Zoom meetings will still be available. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Portfolio Manager or any of our leaders with any questions or concerns. ___________________________________________________________ Original Post – March… Read More
23
Mar
2020
From Inside Acropolis
Today, I thought I would cover two topics. First, I want to update you on how Acropolis is operating, and, second, offer some thoughts on what one prominent economist is saying about the impact of the coronovirus. Regarding Acropolis, it appears that our regular disaster recover preparations were worth their time and energy. As a Registered Investment Advisor, Acropolis is required to have a disaster recovery plan in place and… Read More
9
Mar
2020
Markets Testing Your Mettle
As I noted here last week, despite the market turmoil, it is important to remember that we planned for this. We have prolonged periods of market stress built into our financial plans. It’s also moments like this when we can see whether we’ve accurately assessed your risk tolerance. Every client has an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) that estimates how much an allocation could lose over certain periods. Importantly, we don’t include… Read More
2
Mar
2020
We Planned for This
The selloff was mostly driven by concerns about the spread of the coronavirus outside of China. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it was not yet a pandemic, it increased its risk assessment from ‘high’ to ‘very high.’ Although the bond market received less media attention, the results were equally dramatic. For reference, the yield on the 10-year US Treasury on January 31st was 1.51 percent. On Friday,… Read More
12
Jan
2020
Portfolio Insights
We are pleased to provide a digital copy of Portfolio Insights, our quarterly newsletter. Table of Contents: Stock Market Summary Bond Market Review Tax Planning Opportunities The Big Picture Click here to read the issue: Q4 2019 Portfolio Insights
6
Nov
2019
NEW! 2020 Retirement Plan Contribution Limits
It’s finally official! The IRS announced the 2020 Retirement Plan Contribution and Benefit Limits. See how much you can save in your 401(k) plan in 2020.