We’ve been expecting interest rates to continue to rise for quite some time as the Fed shifts away from their quantitative easing policy. However, markets have recently been spooked by Fed Chair Powell’s comments last week that “we’re a long way from neutral at this point, probably” indicating that additional rate hikes are coming. Rising interest rates can be scary, but there are some treats to be found if you look carefully.

For the next month, the global financial markets will take a back seat while trading desk monitors test their green hues. Knowing where interests will be focused, we created our own World Cup Challenge & while I won’t be able to win, I made my own picks…

Now that 2017 is in the books with its record-setting market highs, I’ve been asked to share my thoughts on both tax reform and 2018.

The topic of high valuations remain at the forefront of many investors’ minds with the cyclically adjusted P/E on U.S. stocks still just over 30 currently and having only been higher twice, in 1929 and in 2000. As one might expect, investing in expensive markets doesn’t typically have a big payoff, so when we were recently contacted by a journalist working on a story about investing in an overvalued market we were happy to share our insight. What follows are our responses to the questions posed about the role market valuation has in a portfolio.

This past weekend we were fortunate to be invited to participate in David Kotok’s annual fishing trip in the great northern woods of Maine. This event, organized by the co-founder of Cumberland Advisors, dates back almost 30 years, but took on special importance post 9/11. As the attendee list consisted of a collection of economists, advisors, traders, market strategists and portfolio managers, thoughtful discussions and strong opinions were plentiful, augmented by a surprise visit by Senator Susan Collins. Elements of the long weekend were covered by The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, ETF.com, and frequent market commentator and financial advisor, Barry Ritholtz, all of which I’d encourage our readers to explore.