For anyone who is stumbling upon this blog, perhaps looking for help with financial planning or with investments, here is a great piece about how to "Cut Through the Confusion": http://www.cfainstitute.org/aboutus/investors/pdf/cuttingthroughtheconfusion.pdf
For anyone else, pass this along to someone you know who is looking for help. There are so many different people out there, doing different things, charging different prices...it's hard to know who you are dealing with. Get the facts and know.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Summer Rally
At the bottom of the television screen while watching CNBC yesterday, I noticed a picture of a sun and the words "summer rally". I thought I was watching the Today show for a minute. The media is now in the entertainment business apparently and are surely fanning the fire of this market rally. The point is, don't be swayed by what the media is saying--their only goal is to increase viewership.
The market continues to do well. The S&P 500 is up 34% from it's March low. Most indices are posting positive returns year-to-date. The market is probably somewhat cheap to fair vs. a very cheap March valuation. Remember how you felt on March 8th? when the market had hit bottom again? Most people wanted to sell everything--which was absolutely the wrong thing to do. All we can do is learn from the past and remember that nothing bad lasts forever. Here are the return numbers through July 31, 2009.
The market continues to do well. The S&P 500 is up 34% from it's March low. Most indices are posting positive returns year-to-date. The market is probably somewhat cheap to fair vs. a very cheap March valuation. Remember how you felt on March 8th? when the market had hit bottom again? Most people wanted to sell everything--which was absolutely the wrong thing to do. All we can do is learn from the past and remember that nothing bad lasts forever. Here are the return numbers through July 31, 2009.
The Monthly Index Report for July 2009
| Index | Jul-09 | QTD | YTD | Description |
| S&P 500 Index* | 7.4% | 7.4% | 9.3% | Large-cap stocks |
| DJIA* | 8.6% | 8.6% | 4.5% | Large-cap stocks |
| Nasdaq Comp.* | 7.8% | 7.8% | 25.5% | Large-cap tech stocks |
| Russell 1000 Growth | 7.1% | 7.1% | 19.5% | Large-cap growth stocks |
| Russell 1000 Value | 8.2% | 8.2% | 5.1% | Large-cap value stocks |
| Russell 2000 Growth | 7.8% | 7.8% | 20.0% | Small-cap growth stocks |
| Russell 2000 Value | 11.6% | 11.6% | 5.8% | Small-cap value stocks |
| EAFE | 9.1% | 9.1% | 18.3% | Europe, Australasia & Far East Index |
| Lehman Aggregate | 1.6% | 1.6% | 3.5% | U.S. Government Bonds |
| Lehman High Yield | 6.1% | 6.1% | 38.4% | High Yield Corporate Bonds |
| Calyon Financial Barclay Index** | -1.2% | -1.2% | -5.7% | Managed Futures |
| 3-mo. Treasury Bill*** | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | |
| All returns are estimates as of July 31, 2009. *Return numbers do not include dividends. | ||||
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