Reflections from Race for the Cure 2013
During the early and rainy hours of this past Sunday morning, September 15, the SFA team completed our second annual Race for the Cure run benefiting breast cancer research. We joined the thousands of men, women and children who walked or ran to forward research toward a cure, and colored the race path pink with […]
The Great Tradeoff
In 1913, the Federal Reserve was created by Congress. The objective was to create an organization that held centralized powers over the banking system. One of the goals, in creating the Fed, was to avoid the boom/bust cycles that had been so prevalent in the American economy in the 1800s and the beginning of the […]
Good Time to Invest?
“Today, my long-term view of U.S. equities remains bullish, and U.S. equities could easily be 30-40 percent higher than today’s levels within two to three years. Having said that, for a number of reasons, now does not appear to be a favorable entry point.“ ~Scott Minerd, Global CIO, Guggenheim Investments, Macro View Commentary (8/8/2013) […]
SEI Private Trust “Waiver of Lien” Communication
A number of you have been calling regarding the letter from Martin Whalen of SEI Private Trust. Knowing if ten clients call, 100 clients have the same question… we hope to clarify Mr. Whalen’s poorly written missive… The issue revolves around SEI Private Trust Company (SPTC) removing its right to apply a lien to IRA […]
Q2 Slow But Steady/Detroit Bankruptcy
Q2 Earnings, Slow But Steady As of Friday night, 108 companies had reported results in this Q2 earnings season, and they have been decent-not great, not bad, but decent. Of the companies that had reported as of Friday’s close, earnings growth has come in better than expected at 3.6%, according to S&P’s Senior Index Analyst, […]
Market Brief: Earnings-Low Expectations
Markets have been fixated of late on the daily comments of various Fed officials. One will say that they favor ending quantitative easing (“QE”) sooner rather than later, and markets would likely have sold off for the day. The next day, another would say that the decision on QE would be data dependent. In response, […]
Oregon Could Be the First State to Send Students to College Tuition-Free
Oregon is on its way to becoming the first state to implement a radical new program that would let students attend state schools without taking out a single loan or paying out of pocket. The “Pay it Forward, Pay it Back” plan lets students enroll with no money down, so long as they agree to […]
Independence Day Office Hours
Our office will be closed Thursday, July 4th and Friday, July 5th to allow our team to celebrate with family and friends. As we at SFA prepare to enjoy our July 4th /Independence Day plans; fireworks, food, company, travel, etc… we will also take the time to reflect on what this holiday means to us. […]
What If I Fall? We All Have To Ride Alone Eventually
“Market volatility may increase in the short term. It almost always does with policy change. But, the end of Q.E. will mean that, longer-term, things are getting better, not worse.” ~Capital Allocation & Management Market Brief, June 17, 2013 Most of us have taught our children to ride bikes. They start with training wheels, they […]
Update on Fed Policy, Unemployment, and Stock Market
Most major U.S. stock markets peaked in mid-May and have been trailing off in a fairly orderly fashion ever since. The selloff has been small-as of Friday’s close, the S&P 500 was down about 3.5% from the all-time high-yet it has been enough to get people talking. Much of the move has been blamed on […]