Like Sumo Wrestling, The Bigger You Are the More You Move the Needle I write these Monday Market Updates to provide real news, without the noise, and more importantly, to educate. Each week we will look at different jargon or alphabet soup acronyms, and other subjects in finance that are confusing and overwhelming. Last week...Read More

Do Fundamentals Even Matter? Last week the Q2 GDP reading was released and showed a contraction of 32.9% in US GDP. The headline continues, but most people stop right there, and fail to see the words on an annualized basis at the end of the headline. Saying GDP contracted in Q2 by 9.5% just doesn’t sound as...Read More

by Jeff Deiss CFP, AEP, Wealth Advisor The benefit of playing games like Concentration is to learn problem-solving, strategy, trust, calculated risk-taking, and how to adapt to unforeseen issues. From an investment perspective, concentration in a single stock is associated with the potential for massive gains. A large stock position acquired through years of executive compensation,...Read More

Is a vaccine our only hope, or is unlimited stimulus enough? Some weeks just take your breath away, and last week was one of them. Let’s touch on some of the key points, and then we can break them down one by one. On Monday the S&P500 entered positive territory for the year and stayed...Read More

by David Ruff CFA, Global Portfolio Manager Europe receives relatively little attention in the 2020 manic global equity markets led by the major markets of China and the U.S..  Ranking last of the big three regional powers in year-to-date equity performance is not an uncommon position for Europe.  In dollar terms, the pan-European STOXX 600 Index...Read More

by Kevin Kern Founding Partner Going through life searching for happiness can certainly bring some disappointment.  But going through life searching for meaning and purpose can bring serenity.  This can also be true with investing.  The purpose of your portfolio will determine the level of serenity you are having this year as the S&P 500 is...Read More

Forefront’s Monday Market Update Don’t let emotions drive the bus! I have had an increasing number of conversations with many of my clients who are asking about adding risk to their portfolios, and purchasing securities trading at increased, and unrealistic valuations. This isn’t surprising and a classic case of risk compensation. Risk compensation is a...Read More

by Jeff Deiss CFP, AEP, Wealth Advisor We’ve written recently about focusing on what you can control and using COVID-19 downtime to tackle issues you may not normally get to. We’re being a little more specific today. The pandemic has reminded us all just how important our health is—and making sure we have the right plans...Read More

by Randall Coleman, CFA Financial websites were abuzz Friday afternoon with the news that Elon Musk had overtaken Warren Buffet on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Tesla (founded by Musk) shares popped 10% that day, adding $6 Billion to Musk’s personal fortune. For the year-to-date period, Tesla has gained a whopping 269%. Meanwhile, the world’s preeminent blue...Read More

by Matthew Terzian, CFA, CFP Just like the 2008 financial crisis, investors are fleeing to cash during the Coronavirus Pandemic, and this migration comes at an extreme cost, better known as a cash drag.  Merriam Webster defines the word “drag” as a burden or encumbrance.  Growing up, many of us heard stories from our parents and...Read More