2020 was an interesting year to say the least. It introduced a way of life that no one could have expected. While many Americans were worried for their health and livelihood, the Federal Reserve and Congress stepped up and provided a stimulus package. People making under $75,000 received up to $1,200 and for those that…
Read MoreLast year was one of the strangest years that I can ever remember from a market perspective. Stocks started 2020 reasonably well but then the pandemic hit. The global economy was put into lockdown to keep medical systems from being overwhelmed. The S&P 500 fell 34% in just 22 days and the volatility index went…
Read MoreDespite worsening COVID numbers and the uncertainty of a presidential election, stocks rallied massively in the fourth quarter. During the fourth quarter, the S&P 500 rallied 12.15% while the NASDAQ gained a strong 15.6%. In a dramatic change from the last few years, smaller and mid-cap stocks represented by the Russell 2000 returned an astounding…
Read MoreTo say that 2020 has been an unusual year would be an understatement. Never before have governments been forced to shut down their economies to stop the spread of a deadly virus. The stock market responded to the shutdown as would be expected with the S&P 500 declining 34% from February 18th to March 23rd.…
Read MoreWhen the decision was made to shut down the economy, we noted that the biggest beneficiaries of this would be large corporations and Big Government while the losers would be the individual workers and small businesses. Intuitively, this makes sense as small companies lack the wherewithal and liquidity in many cases to ride out long…
Read MoreWhat a crazy year it has already been for investors. As previously reported, the first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst quarters ever for stocks with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) down 21.3%, the S&P 500 down 19.6%, the NASDAQ down 14.0% and the smaller company Russell 2000 down 30.6%. In contrast,…
Read MoreThere are periods in history when buyers gravitate to what they perceive to be the safest places for investment. In the 1960s and early 1970s, it was the Nifty Fifty. Fifty large-cap stocks who through merger and acquisitions owned wholly diverse businesses that controlled a new post-war consumer. This consumer bought their products and their…
Read MoreAll of us have been touched in one way or another by the COVID-19 pandemic, we at Wealthstreet hope that you and your families are safe and well. The first quarter of 2020 was one of the worst quarters for stocks ever. It was, in fact, the worst first quarter for the Dow Jones Industrial…
Read MoreLife has been incredibly hard in some ways and much simpler in others. We have returned to a life where eating in has replaced restaurants. Social experiences have been replaced by social distancing. A call to check in on friends or family or a Netflix movie has replaced happy hours and concerts. Most people are…
Read MoreNot all indices are created equal. Often times when you hear people talk about how the market is doing they are referencing the Dow Jones. Is the Dow Jones really a good indicator? It’s made up of a small sample pool of the thirty leading stocks in each of their respective industries and it…
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