In April the average credit score reached 700 – the highest since 2005 when Fair Isaac (creator of widely used FICO credit scores that range from 300 to 850) began tracking the data. Meanwhile the share of consumers deemed to be riskiest (those with scores below 600) hit a new low of 20% of U.S. [...]
Interest rates on new federal student loans change each year based upon results of the May 10-year Treasury auction. The 2017 auction closed last week. Although the Department of Education has yet to officially announce the new rates expectations are: The rate on federal Stafford Loans for undergraduates will likely rise from 3.76% to 4.45%. [...]
As one of the oldest and best-known indexes the DJIA is not only a benchmark for the world’s largest stock market but, also, a barometer of global confidence. This chart details the DJIA’s performance since 1896. It’s interesting to note how the highs and lows have reflected the U.S. economy. Greater still is [...]
We recently completed and are happy to share with you Apollo's 2017 Mid-Year Investment Outlook. It incorporates q1 activity with projections for future economic, tax and political events. It is meant to be a general guideline - not specific advice/recommendations. Specifics (cash flow, tax, estate, etc) dictate how this information may be incorporated into one's [...]
In 1573 English farmer and poet Thomas Tusser gave rise to the now popular phrase “a fool and his money are soon parted” with this verse from Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie: A foole & his money, be soone at debate: which after with sorrow, repents him to late. What makes us foolish with [...]
Recently released minutes from the March Fed meeting show a split in the timing and impact of the move. By way of review The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet exploded from $1 billion to $4.5 billion in the wake of the credit crisis. The Obama administration’s largesse exploded annual budget deficits. The financier was the Fed [...]
In response to regulatory pressure and settlement of lawsuits with 32 states the Big Three of credit reporting – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – have decided to omit certain negative items from the credit reports of consumers. Examples include: Tax-lien and civil-judgment data that don’t include a complete list of at least three data points [...]
Leading up to the November elections nervous investors uttered variants of, “Everyone is saying the markets are gonna fall if Trump is elected.” Apollo’s view was usually a variant of, “Really? Who is this ‘everyone’ and why should we listen to them?” In hindsight the ‘Trump Bump’ has returned 11.6% to the S&P 500 companies [...]
Lending to consumers has steadily increased since the credit crisis and has continued since the November elections. Lending to companies has stalled since the elections. Yesterday The Fed raised ST interest rates and [...]
Yesterday JPMorgan Chase & Co announced it sent some wealth management customers letters notifying them that they will be moved to the firm’s self-directed platform ahead of a pending Labor Department retirement regulation. Following their product-pushing brethren (banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies) it’s the latest move that puts themselves ahead of their customers. For [...]