If you didn't find what you were looking for, try a new search!
The income side of fiscal policy (i.e. taxation) is always highly politicized. The song never seems to change. Republicans think everyone pays too much. Democrats think everyone pays too little. An oversimplification? Maybe. Nonetheless a basic understanding of the proposals independent of the emotionally-charged rhetoric can go a long way towards achieving Thomas Jefferson’s view [...]
Two plus two equals four. That’s math. It’s real. It’s measurable. It’s fact. That’s how finance is supposed to work. But maybe four is not enough. Maybe it’s too much. How quickly can I get from two to four? I used to be at four but now I’m at two and since four is ‘right’ [...]
After Friday’s jump (credited to the jobs report but, frankly, “pundits” always confuse correlation with causation) the S&P 500 was roughly even YTD. After Mon’s increase the S&P 500 closed positive for the year. That’s right – despite all the handwringing and proverbial jumping out of windows by many investors the S&P 500 is positive [...]
The year was 1994: The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King and Forrest Gump were some of the top grossing films. ER and Friends debuted making Thursday night “must see TV” on NBC. Yahoo and Amazon were launched. Richard Nixon died. Kurt Cobain committed suicide. O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with murder. Major [...]
Do you consider yourself calm and rational? Cool under pressure? Master of your domain? Think again. According to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman we make 95% of our decisions emotionally and subconsciously. It’s after we’ve made decisions that we try to rationalize them with logic. Luxury goods are a prime example. The manufacturers of luxury goods [...]
There’s logic and there’s emotion. If you make decisions based upon the former the following is for you. If you prefer the latter (or delude yourself into thinking you’re the former but are truly the latter) skip the logic section. LOGIC: Over time the prices of financial assets such as stocks/equities generally increase. Stock prices [...]
We hope you enjoy the q2 letter from Ron Baron. Another gem from another of our fav reads. Interesting to note Baron Capital’s preference for businesses that focus on the LT instead of daily, weekly, quarterly or annual targets and how that LT focus produces excellent results. Wonder how many individual investors speculators can say [...]
Who likes a visit to the doctor’s office? Exactly. In a recent survey conducted by The Harris Poll Americans likened financial planning to a medical exam. Adults aged 18+ were asked how they feel about financial planning. The #1 answer was “not my favorite thing in the world but know it needs to get done [...]
We recently welcomed a new client to the Apollo family. He approached us after years as a DIY investor. During the get to know you phase he told us one of his biggest problems is the volume of information, not knowing what to believe, acting on (oftentimes competing) advice and ending up getting nowhere. We [...]
People die all the time. Why, you could wake up dead tomorrow. To be serious for a moment death is not something we enjoy contemplating. It’s nonetheless inevitable and something for which we should prepare while healthy and unemotional. Waiting until we’re terminal or leaving the chore to our loved ones after we're gone is [...]