Despite distracting headlines out of Washington, domestic equity markets marched to new record highs (for the S&P 500 & Nasdaq) during the quarter. Equity markets focused on the upward trend in GDP growth and robust corporate earnings (up over 15% year-over-year) that recorded the most profitable period in over five years. Historically, such periods of [...]
“I just got a job and have a steady income. What now?” If there is one thing college doesn’t always prepare us for, it’s how to function in the “real world,” especially when it comes to dealing with finances, like paying bills, investing for the future, and doing taxes. As a finance major, I have [...]
The latest massive ransomware attack, Petya, is quickly spreading to the United States. Similar to WannaCry, Petya capitalizes on the same Windows vulnerabilities, but Petya has developed an even more devastating result. If infected, Petya moves quickly to encrypt your computer boot files and shuts down your entire system leaving you with little to no [...]
As the weather heats up and local amusement parks tune up their rides for the summer crowds, dreams of heading to Hershey Park, Six Flags or Kings Dominion are in full swing. If you are anything like me, you like the roller coasters that go fast, twist you up, down, left then right, and finish [...]
Stocks Fly! Stock markets are off to a strong start in 2017 fueled by healthy earnings growth. As companies in the S&P 500 index begin to report their results for the 1st quarter, aggregate sales and earnings growth are currently up 4.4% and 13.2%, respectively, when compared to last year. Political tailwinds? While much of [...]
We continue to observe evidence of accelerating economic growth, an environment that historically bodes very well for stocks. We remain optimistic and anticipate a positive investment climate to persist for much of 2017. Brian Wesbury, Chief Economist for First Trust Portfolios, shares a similar viewpoint in this short video about how and why he believes [...]
As a hard-working American, you spend a lot of your life punching the clock day in and day out, dreaming of the day when you can trade your business attire for a swimsuit as you relax by the beach while RETIRED! When I think of retirement, I think of golf, tennis, DIY projects, relaxation, travel [...]
On the campaign trail Donald Trump proposed significant changes to the income and transfer of taxation of individuals. Immediately upon Steven Mnuchin’s appointment as Secretary of the Treasury, Mnuchin made it clear there would be major changes to the tax code, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the Reagan years. With the House [...]
The stock market opened the year in a “risk-off” mode over fears of global growth slowing, falling oil prices, and a U.S. corporate earnings recession. By mid-February equities were down more than 10%. Although markets rebounded through the spring, the negative sentiment and volatility persisted for much of the first half. A quiet summer vacation [...]
We’ve all seen the headlines in the news in recent years — “Data Breach at XYZ Company.” Big-name companies such as Yahoo, Google, CVS, U.S Olympic Committee, Capital One, and an uncomfortably long list of others have been named in those headlines. Nearly 1,000 data breaches in 2016 put the personal information of more than [...]
