Category: Markets

  • Staying the course is not staying still

    By Kyle Tetting Stock prices move quickly, but fundamentals change slowly. These day-to-day price movements are largely a popularity contest while long-term market direction is a math lesson. Expectations for continued strong earnings growth point to meaningful opportunities for stocks ahead as stock prices tend to mirror that longer-term earnings growth. Patience remains the challenge,…

  • Pessimism could send a contrary signal

    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. […]

  • Retirees: How to handle stock sell-offs

    Gyrations in the stock market can play havoc with investors’ emotions and lead to impulsive moves. In a MONEY TALK VIDEO, Dave Sandstrom explains why investors should not let short-term market volatility disrupt important retirement decisions but instead rely on balanced investment portfolios and prudent withdrawal plans. […]

  • Volatility: What to watch for and why

    After a six-month lull, volatility riled the stock market again in October. Prices on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose or fell more than 1% in 10 of the month’s 22 trading days. While heightened activity can be disconcerting, it’s par for the course from time to time and reminds investors to balance their…

  • Ignore bonds at your own risk

    With narrower spreads between the yields offered for high-quality and low-quality bonds, investors should be sure they’re getting paid for the risks they’re taking – especially with what’s meant to be the safer side of their portfolio. Kyle Tetting explains in a MONEY TALK VIDEO. […]

  • Correction: Volatility has returned

    By Kyle Tetting This year is off to a strong start. Continued global growth and prospects from tax reform have raised expectations for corporate earnings. At the same time, each new release of economic data suggests more of the Goldilocks growth story (not too hot, not too cold) that has underlined the past few years.…

  • Valuing Investments: Price-Earnings Ratio

    Scales

    The price-earnings ratio helps put an objective value on investments, as Dave Sandstrom explains in a Money Talk Video.

  • Focus on fundamentals to face volatility

    Earnings and interest rates drive stocks in the long run, Steve Giles says, and investors should focus on those fundamentals.

  • Watch bonds as rates rise

    As the Federal Reserve gets closer to eventually raising interest rates, Steve Giles says investors should keep an eye on the durations of their bond holdings. Steve explains how rising rates affect bonds in a MONEY TALK VIDEO. […]

  • This bull has legs

    By Bob Landaas April marks the fourth anniversary of the latest bull market. Those who aren’t bullish might feel sheepish to learn that the average bull market since World War II has been a little longer than four years. But bull markets don’t die of old age. They typically die because of speculative frenzy. They…