Bob's Journal
Found 587 Articles.
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Looking Forward to 2017
We could have a very interesting year in the markets in 2017. We are in one of those rare periods when investors, analysts and economists are in general agreement about the outlook. For the most part, they are optimistic about economic growth, and that in turn makes them optimistic about earnings and stock prices. They […]
The Year So Far
There are only a few trading days left in 2016, so it’s a good time to step back and look at the trends and returns for the year. Before we look at the numbers, consider the changes in fortune during the year. It started with a stock bear market and other problems in China. These […]
The Fed Finally Moves
The Fed finally pulled the trigger on another interest rate hike after a year of hand-wringing, fretting and promises. The Fed also promised three increases in 2017. Of course, a year ago, the Fed announced it expected to increase the interest rate another four times in 2016. The new policy and pronouncements are the result […]
Key Trends and Factors Entering 2017
As we head into the last few weeks of the year, here a few points to keep in mind about the economy and markets. Forecasts and predictions aren’t worth much. The Brexit vote, U.S. election, and Italian referendum were forecast to be major market-changers. The changes didn’t really happen, except in the U.S. the markets […]
What Will Italy’s Referendum on Sunday Bring?
The attention of many investors and economists is shifting from the change of administrations in the United States to Sunday’s referendum in Italy. The result could have repercussions for the European Union exceeding those from last June’s Brexit vote, according to much of the pre-referendum hype. On Sunday, Italians will vote whether or not to […]
Happy Thanksgiving
We celebrated Thanksgiving early this year because most of the family is going to be out of town visiting other relatives. The early celebration seemed to enable more of the reflection and spirit intended for the holiday. In recognition of Thanksgiving, I modified the format of this week’s message. We had a volatile, unpredictable 2016. […]
Handling the Post-Election Realignment
The last few weeks are evidence that market forecasters don’t know much. They said before the election that a Clinton victory would be good for stocks and a Trump victory would be bad for stocks. Some observers were forecasting sharp drops of 10% to 15% if Trump were to win. Traders initially followed this view. […]
The Election and Your Portfolio
The election everyone said they hated is behind us. Now we plan for the results. Post-election forecasts are as precarious as pre-election forecasts. I remember after Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, the consensus was that stocks of “green companies” would do well and defense stocks would do poorly. There even were newsletters and mutual […]
