In one of our recent posts, we discussed building portfolios that can handle the inevitable ups and downs that investors experience in the markets. Today we will discuss an important step in that process, namely, understanding the current market environment and setting go-forward expectations.

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.

In a recent Weekly Research Briefing, I discussed holiday shopping’s positive start—particularly if you had an online presence. While Santa’s helpers get busy packing his sleigh, stats are supporting that claim as, according to a National Retail Foundation survey, 59% of consumers planned to shop online accounting for an estimated 51% of total holiday retail sales—resulting in record-highs of $5 billion in online sales on Black Friday alone.