By Kyle Tetting
Like all recoveries, questions persist about what comes next. With four solid quarters already in the books since the recession ended, comparisons will get harder. While it’s not a foregone conclusion that economic growth moderates anytime soon, the easiest comparisons are behind us.

By Kyle Tetting
The notion of fear and greed itself is familiar to most. But recent fears of missing out are stoked by the break-neck pace at which things are changing. Investors want to know if they’re holding that stock they read about or if they’re invested in that area that’s been making strides. Such wondering isn’t new, though the question of what to do next is popping up more as stock markets set new records and bond yields remain low.

By Kyle Tetting
It’s easy to be encouraged by the way we’ve started the year. Broad market measures have continued to stretch to new highs, pushing the S&P 500 index beyond 10% gains for the year. As a leading indicator, the market inspires optimism for the road ahead.
Even so, we reserve a healthy dose of caution.

By Kyle Tetting
The pandemic shows shortcomings in those tidy calendar-year earnings and market forecasts, especially how expectations for the year can shift quickly as major events develop. Also, the calendar focus on near-term outlook can hide longer-term views, including well-founded optimism for stocks. Though the exact timing of a recovery remains elusive, the broader expectation provides continued support for stocks, led by earnings.

By Kyle Tetting
A month into 2021, I haven’t been able to escape the most pressing question of 2020: How did markets post such strong returns in the midst of such terrible news?
To begin to understand, consider snow days.

By Kyle Tetting
What strikes me most from year to year is just how wrong prognostications tend to be when it comes to specifics.
We need only look to forecasts made a year ago to see just how far off the mark they were.

By Kyle Tetting
November has given us much to be thankful for. Though the exponential growth of positive coronavirus cases continues to weigh, news from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca may finally be showing us the light at the end of the tunnel. While stocks had shown strength on the hope of this news, November brought more concrete signs that economic growth may follow a successful vaccine.

By Kyle Tetting
Economists at Yale University’s decades-long confidence surveys ask investors what they believe the probability is of a “catastrophic stock market crash in the U.S. in the next six months.” Individual investors were as pessimistic as ever in August, according to survey data. The most recent report shows little improvement. […]

Landaas & Company is delivering its annual client investment seminar online, with Bob Landaas and other investment advisors explaining global market trends and considerations for long-term investors.

By Kyle Tetting
Daily updates on the pandemic and resulting economic calamity can take us away from the core of why we invest. […]

By Kyle Tetting
August ended the briefest bear market in history. An especially technical term with multiple methods of measurement, the end of a bear market is a sign that investors have begun to look ahead and move beyond the root causes of earlier market declines. Despite some optimism, though, there is plenty of uncertainty, which can both test investors’ resolve and offer opportunity.

By Kyle Tetting

At the halfway point, 2020 has been a disappointing year for investors. “Disappointing” might not be strong enough to describe the economy or many other measures of the year so far, but for investors, it’s fitting—with a little perspective.