Wild World
by Jon Aldrich It was yet another wild week in the stock market. As Cat Stevens a.k.a. Yusuf Islam penned in his 1970 album “Tea for the Tillerman” it sure has been a Wild World in the stock market lately. On Tuesday the Dow dropped 799 points (Geez, couldn’t it have squeaked out another point to make…
Read MoreGobbled Up
By Jon Aldrich Just like the turkey at your Thanksgiving Dinner, any gains that the S & P 500 had for the year have been gobbled up by the ongoing market correction that has lingered throughout October and November. The volatility in the markets we have been expecting and are now experiencing after such a…
Read MoreWell, At Least October is Almost Over
By Jon Aldrich October can be a great month. Fall is in full swing, and the colors and smells of fall here in the Midwest make it a great time of year. It’s that time for the smell of burning leaves and cider donuts at the orchard. It’s the time for kids to jump in…
Read MoreTrick or Treat, October is here.
By Jon Aldrich I was working out at the gym today and while I was riding the stationary bike I had the privilege of watching the financial media on CNBS (a.k.a. CNBC) in full meltdown mode. (I took the above picture today while I was riding) Of course, they had the big alert in the…
Read MoreMario Mendoza and Financial “Experts”
By Jon Aldrich By all accounts, Mario Mendoza was a slick infielder who couldn’t hit a lick. His lifetime batting average was .215, which you don’t have to be a baseball aficionado to understand is not very good. He essentially recorded a successful base hit approximately 20% of the time, give or take. Heck, I…
Read MoreGive to Live
By Jon Aldrich I received a lot of positive feedback on my last blog, “Taken for Granted”. So, I wanted to write a follow up article to tie up some loose ends. A number of people also inquired how Oreo was doing and I greatly appreciated the thoughts and support. Writing has proven to be…
Read MoreTaken For Granted
By Jon Aldrich Take for granted. It is something I am sure all of us are guilty of from time to time. I know I sure am and probably way more than I would like to admit. So, how do we define “Take for Granted”: Let’s just focus on the first definition. We have too…
Read More2nd Quarter Markets Summary
By Jon Aldrich Market volatility calmed down a bit in the 2nd quarter after a tumultuous 1st quarter that saw an end to the unprecedented calm of 2017. 2018 has been a return to normalcy for stocks after one of the calmest stretches for equities in history that was 2017. The economic cycle and the…
Read MoreWill New Bill Make It Easier to Claim Charitable Donations?
By Jon Aldrich By now I would imagine most people are somewhat familiar (or maybe vaguely familiar) with the major provisions of the new tax law that took effect in 2017, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, also fondly known as TCJA for those who are fans of acronyms. One of the major…
Read More2018 First Quarter Market Summary
By Jon Aldrich It has been a long time coming, but for the first time in nine calendar quarters, most of the major stock and bond indexes were down. So far we have only seen modest declines for the year but it does remind us that yes, markets can and do go down from time…
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