Articles

By Kyle Tetting It’s hard to argue with the year-to-date success of the vast majority of investment categories. As I write this on April 26, broad measures of stocks like the S&P 500 had gained more than 6% with only a few trading days left in April. Similarly, less volatile measures like bonds have added half as much or more. While the gains are encouraging, I am struck by how pessimistic many of the headlines remain. “Markets climb a wall of worry,” the saying goes, and that seems especially true now, though investing from a place of worry is tough.

By Kyle Tetting Especially with the unknown timing and magnitude of the Federal Reserve’s remaining steps to fight inflation, long-term optimism can get overlooked. […]

By Kyle Tetting Stock prices move quickly, but fundamentals change slowly. These day-to-day price movements are largely a popularity contest while long-term market direction is a math lesson. Expectations for continued strong earnings growth point to meaningful opportunities for stocks ahead as stock prices tend to mirror that longer-term earnings growth. Patience remains the challenge, counting on appropriate balance to ride out the current storm. But patience, “staying the course” we often say, isn’t about inaction. It’s about small but necessary course corrections to ensure we remain true to the plan.

By Kyle Tetting Economists at Yale University’s decades-long confidence surveys ask investors what they believe the probability is of a “catastrophic stock market crash in the U.S. in the next six months.” Individual investors were as pessimistic as ever in August, according to survey data. The most recent report shows little improvement. […]

Gyrations in the stock market can play havoc with investors’ emotions and lead to impulsive moves. In a MONEY TALK VIDEO, Dave Sandstrom explains why investors should not let short-term market volatility disrupt important retirement decisions but instead rely on balanced investment portfolios and prudent withdrawal plans. […]

After a six-month lull, volatility riled the stock market again in October. Prices on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose or fell more than 1% in 10 of the month’s 22 trading days. While heightened activity can be disconcerting, it’s par for the course from time to time and reminds investors to balance their portfolios to risk levels they can tolerate. Kyle Tetting explains in a MONEY TALK VIDEO. […]