Greetings, The third calendar quarter of 2018 saw a more marked divergence in global economic and market conditions than had been seen in prior quarters, as several factors we will address in this Report have led to a “decoupling” of the U.S. economy, and its debt and equity markets from the “globally synchronized expansions” of both we’ve observed in the prior six to eight quarters. Read the full article in the downloadable PDF »
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Dear Clients and Friends, Several of you have reached out to our team the past two days to ask our opinions about the market volatility we’ve seen Wednesday and Thursday, and what it means for markets going forward, and by extension, what it means for their portfolios. We thought it appropriate to provide a quick message as to our sense of the markets’ near term directions. Read the full article in the downloadable PDF »
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Greetings, In April, we posted a Special Report (“Weighing the Evidence”) in which we listed 7 reasons to be “Bullish” and 7 reasons to be “Bearish”. This special September 2018 report revisits the potential that the evidence in the market is turning decidedly less Bullish. Read the full article in the downloadable PDF »
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Greetings, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth, today announces that Lance T. Knight, CRPC® has joined the firm as Managing Wealth Advisor in the firm’s new Las Vegas office. Read the full press release as a downloadable PDF »
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Greetings, The second calendar quarter of 2018 witnessed a continuation of the stock market’s volatility that manifested itself in early February of this year but was virtually absent in 2017. The S&P 500 Index, the most widely recognized proxy for U.S. Stocks, ended the second quarter of 2018 at 2,718.37, delivering a total return (including dividends) to investors for the period of +3.43%. The relatively modest size of the gain belied the Index’ broad trading range of (approx.) 8% throughout the quarter, from its closing low of 2,581.88 (April 2nd), to its closing high of 2,786.85 (June 12th). Read the
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THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF A RULE In 2010, the Obama Administration proposed a rule through the Department of Labor that would govern how investment advice is given to retirement plan participants and entities that sponsor those plans, generally employers. How will its effects fare?   Read the full article in the downloadable PDF »
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Greetings, The first calendar quarter of 2018 saw the end of the longest consecutive monthly gains (fifteen) for the S&P 500 Index in history, a “flattening” of the U.S. bond yield curve, a “narrowing” of credit spreads, and a change in the leadership of the Federal Reserve Bank. The S&P 500 Index started the year in a continuation of the strong 2017 advance (+21.14%, including reinvested dividends), rising +7.45% the first three-plus weeks of the year to its record high level of 2,872.87, before plummeting (-10.16%) over the next nine trading days. It bounced around the mid-point of those two
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Greetings, Unless you’ve recently returned from a very long vacation to someplace so remote that news doesn’t reach it, you’re probably aware that the capital markets are behaving far differently in 2018 than they were in the prior year. This special April 2018 report digs into the evidence evident in the market and the potentially positive and negative results of what lies ahead. Read the full article in the downloadable PDF »
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