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We believe the key to your success is empowering you to make smart decisions, so we provide accessible, educational articles written by our own advisors. These articles focus on everything from global monetary policy to tips on saving for retirement.

Steve Coker, CFP

Nov 26, 2018
2 min

What is Bothering Stocks?

Over the past 8 weeks, the S&P 500 has erased its gains for the year and is now officially in correction territory with a 10% decline from it’s high. While these types of declines can be concerning, it is important to remember that 10% declines are not unusual. In fact, almost every year the stock market has a correction of at least 10%. This year, we have now had two 10% declines, including the 10% drop in February that now seems like a distant memory. We continue to believe

Steve Coker, CFP

Oct 15, 2018
2 min

Inflation Watch

We all hate inflation when the cost of goods and services rise. Fortunately, for more than a decade, inflation in the United States has remained low, and we have all become accustomed to prices slowly, gently rising over time. Similarly, the stock and bond markets have become accustomed to stable, low inflation, and that has helped propel the current stock market gains. What consumers and markets both hate is a sudden jump in prices or a sudden change in inflation expectation

Steve Coker, CFP

Jan 11, 2018
3 min

The Market Temperature

Kenneth Arrow, Nobel Prize-winning economist, and one of the most influential economists of the 20th century died in 2017 at the age of 95. While Dr. Arrow’s contributions are many, he is most quoted for his anecdotes about World War II. During the war, Dr. Arrow was assigned to be a weatherman and tasked with making long-range predictions about the weather. He soon realized these forecasts were no better than random guesses, but when Dr. Arrow pointed the problem out to his

Steve Coker, CFP

Sep 12, 2016
3 min

Should We Fear the Fed?

After several months of relative calm and fairly steady increases, stock markets fell sharply Friday with the S&P 500 declining 2.45%. Most pundits blame Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren, known as one of the more accommodative Federal Reserve Governors, for spooking the market with comments that “a reasonable case can be made” for tightening monetary policy. His comments, made during a speech in Boston on September 9th, immediately increased expectati

Steve Coker, CFP

Aug 22, 2016
4 min

The Cost of Negativity

As I was listening to the radio while driving home last week I heard relentless negativity toward the economy and stock market. Advertisement after advertisement talked about the ‘wall street casino’ and how the Federal Reserve has ‘fumbled the ball’ as the economy falters. There is a general perception that the stock market is doing horribly; a perception driven not by data but by simple repetition. The problem is that while the narrative is popular, it is simply untrue.

Steve Coker, CFP

Apr 18, 2016
3 min

Surprise! The Stock Market is Positive

You wouldn’t know it from the amount of pessimism in the news and political discourse, but the stock market is now positive for 2016. As of Friday, April 15th, the S&P 500 has recovered fully from its much-publicized January drop to record a much less publicized recovery, rising over 13% from its February low to a 2.4% increase for the year. True, 2.4% is a modest gain, but after January 2016 was touted as ‘the worst start in the stock market ever’ I find many of my clients