So here we are again. Loathe to comment for fear of legitimizing a non-event yet silence brings accusations of laxity. Woe is us! By now we’re all aware of a two-day slide that knocked 1,300 points off the Dow. Big Media loves it. Article after article. Talking head after talking head. Lots of folks rewriting [...]
The prevailing narrative is that the Trump tax cuts (which cut the corporate rate from 35% to 21%) have been a boon for shareholders. Companies flush with cash have showered riches on their shareholders through increased dividends and stock repurchases. Is this true? Maybe. In dollar terms it’s certainly true. Spending by S&P 500 companies [...]
The problem with humans is that, well, we're human. It means we're subject to making decisions not in our best interest. We're easily distracted and excitable. We want to believe what we're told. It's a recipe for disaster. The purpose of insurance is to protect against something. Own a car? Great. Buy insurance in case [...]
There was a time when classification was simple. Coca-Cola sells discretionary consumer goods. J&J is a health care company. Pretty straightforward, right? But what about Comcast? Is it a telecommunications company? Media? Information technology? Semantics to some. Important to others – particularly the investment community insofar as comparisons to benchmarks, diversification, etc require specificity. To [...]
The problem with bulls? It's the bulls**t! Be careful where you step. Now that the fiduciary rule is dead Merrill Lynch has confirmed it's business as usual. Customers be damned. Best interest? Forget about it. When it appeared regulators would require a fiduciary obligation Merrill jumped at the chance to be head cheerleader. See here, [...]
Notice 2018-58 provides rules that can be relied upon unless and until Treasury issues clarifying rules regarding the following: K-12: Distributions can be used to pay up to $10,000/yr of tuition per beneficiary at an elementary or secondary public, private or religious school. Tuition Refunds: A beneficiary receiving a refund of tuition or other qualified [...]
One of the items getting little attention in the recent round of tax reform is the kiddie tax. Passed by Congress in 1986 to prevent taxpayers from shifting income to their kids (presumably in a lower bracket) the tax raises more than $1 billion per year for Treasury. What is it? The kiddie tax is [...]
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 [...]
Investment A has a YTD ROR of 6.15%. Investment B has a YTD ROR of 4.32%. Which one is the S&P 500? Answer? Both. How can this be? Investment A was measured using the cap-weighted methodology where the larger the company and stock price the more impact it has. Investment B was measured using an [...]
Let’s travel back in time to 2016. The Department of Labor rolls out the fiduciary rule. Firms providing retirement advice must act in the best interests of clients. Wall St firms scramble. The days of pushing products and soaking clients with commissions are over. Merrill Lynch rushes to act. They ban commissions on IRAs. Their [...]