The Eagle’s Eye December 2022 Client Letter
Crypto crash Stocks have been battered by the Federal Reserve’s quest to rein in the highest rate of inflation in 40 years. So far, however, investors have expressed little concern over the crisis that has rocked cryptocurrencies. It’s a far cry from the reaction to Lehman’s demise in 2008, which sparked the financial crisis and […]
The Eagle’s Eye November 2022 Client Letter
Long-term care includes a whole host of services that you may require to meet various personal needs. And eventually, around 60% of us will need assistance with things many take for granted, according to the Administration for Community Living, a division of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Whether it is because you […]
The Eagle’s Eye October 2022 Client Letter
IBM defines cybersecurity as “the practice of protecting critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks.” You may not be in the business of defending critical infrastructure from online threats. But fraud, identity theft, and online scams that target your finances pose significant challenges for everyone in today’s digital world. Armed with knowledge, vigilance, and […]
The Eagle’s Eye September 2022 Client Letter
Pivoting away from a pivot In July and into August, investors were warming to the possibility of a dovish reversal in Fed rate hikes early next year—a pivot, according to a closely watched gauge that measures rate expectations from the CME Group. Remarks from Fed Chief Jerome Powell’s press conference in late July fueled such […]
The Eagle’s Eye August Client Letter: A College Education Minus the Debt
Fully funding a college education without debt is no simple task. It’s no secret that the cost of a four-year degree has soared. But do you realize how much it has risen? According to Education Data Initiative, the average cost of college tuition and fees at four-year public schools has risen 179% over the last […]
The Eagle’s Eye July Client Letter: A Rocky First Half
The Wall Street Journal summed up the first six months of the year with a simple but telling headline: S&P 500 Posts Worst First Half of Year Since 1970. (The Wall Street Journal) Morningstar said the Dow’s performance was the worst since 1962. Table 1: Key Index Returns MTD % YTD % Dow […]
The Eagle’s Eye June Client Letter
We were treated to one of the greatest bull markets in modern history during the last decade. It’s not that we didn’t experience sell-offs. We did. During 2011 and 2018, the S&P 500 Index came very close to entering a bear market (Yahoo Finance), which is typically defined as a 20% or greater pullback in […]
The Eagle’s Eye May Client Letter: The Fed Gears Up for Shock and Awe
Since the beginning of the year, the markets have been rattled by persistently high inflation and the question of how the Federal Reserve might respond. In March, it began with a simple 25 bp (bp = basis points, 1 bp = 0.01%) rate hike in the fed funds rate to 0.25%-0.50%. Unlike the rate-hike cycle […]
The Eagle’s Eye April Client Letter: How Should You ‘Spend’ Your Tax Refund
Are you getting a tax refund this year? Plenty of folks are. Much like trivia, running through the IRS data is always interesting…at least for those who love diving into the minutiae. So here are some tax facts for the 2022 season (irs.gov) Through March 25, 2022, the IRS has received over 81 million […]
The Eagle’s Eye March Client Letter: When Worlds Collide
Despite repeatedly denying he had any designs on his neighbor, Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine late last month. Conditions on the ground are quite fluid, and we won’t delve into military strategy. What we can offer is a sobering perspective for those who are suffering in Ukraine. As I was flipping through the […]
