Working Wealthy – Don’t Be A Bank
August 29, 2017
A wonderful client of BDF once shared with me the following fable. I was reminded of it recently and how much it applies to modern day. Hundreds of years ago in a faraway village, there was a man who lived in a house. The man in the house was the wealthiest man in the village. […]
Did Amazon Kill Retail?
August 24, 2017
As we wrap up another quarterly earnings season marked by strong earnings, the retail sector has the feel of a dead man walking. Macy’s, Kohl’s and JC Penney had dismal earnings reports. Of the major brick and mortar retail sales Nordstrom was the rare positive earnings surprise (a modest 1.7% growth in same store sales). […]
Are Tech Stocks Worth Biting into or Ready to Bite the Dust?
August 10, 2017
“FANG” stocks are all the rage – and no I am not referring to snakes or vampires! FANG is the term coined by CNBC analyst Jim Kramer to describe large technology stocks Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. And if you read the headlines lately, it’s easy to think these stocks could rule the world. Facebook […]
Graduation Gifts with a Tax Break
August 8, 2017
Summertime brings us joy and excitement in many ways. There’s family barbeques, concerts, and weekend trips to the lake, just to name a few. It’s also a time for new experiences, as fresh empty-nesters pack up their cars and prepare to say goodbye to their recent high school graduates. With the 2017 Fall Semester looming […]
Fed Watching Redux
July 27, 2017
In our April 13, 2017, Wealth Watch entitled “Fed Watching,” we suggested that “Fed watching” may become more interesting in the months ahead as the Fed shifted to tighter monetary policy. At that point, the Fed had raised rates for the second time in three months and said it would consider steps to unwind its balance sheet. No details […]
China’s A Shares an “A” Idea?
July 13, 2017
On June 20th, index provider MSCI announced big news. They finally decided to include mainland Chinese stocks (known as A-Shares) to their indexes. The world’s second largest economy will now get a stage in a huge index. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index alone is tracked globally by an estimated $1.5 trillion of assets. By including […]
Social InSecurity?
July 4, 2017
It often seems that everywhere you look, you’re confronted by headlines about the impending “collapse” of Social Security. There is often so much negative information presented, it’s hard to fully understand the reality of the situation. We’re here to help. Social Security “Bankruptcy” One of the most frequently cited Social Security statistics is that it’s […]
Working Wealthy – What’s My Number?
June 27, 2017
Situationally speaking, this question might get different answers from different groups of people. I can still recite the phone number of my childhood home and the number of my best friend. Neither of us has lived at those addresses for over 20 years, but numbers have a funny way of sticking with a person. Others […]
Diving Into Covered Call Writing
June 22, 2017
The markets have been wonderful over the past year and a half. Some may say even too wonderful. Currently we have low yields on bonds and stocks at all-time highs. As always, BDF’s Investment Committee scours the landscape for ways we can make long-term fundamental improvements to your portfolio. You often hear a lot about […]
Brexit: 1 Year Later
June 8, 2017
Last June, English voters shocked the world and voted to leave the European Union. The unexpected result roiled equity markets and caused the value of the pound to plummet. David Cameron, then Prime Minister, quickly stepped down and shortly thereafter Theresa May, a Conservative who campaigned for Brexit, took over. Concerns around the British economy […]
The State of the State
May 25, 2017
Recently, Gurtin Municipal Bond Management presented “Illinois and Chicago Credit Update,” a special, insider’s look at the true state of the municipal bond market in Illinois and Chicago. It was an informative but sobering look at the many financial challenges Illinois and Chicago face. Here are some of Gurtin’s insights. State of Illinois State general […]
The Long and Winding Road to Nasdaq 6000
May 11, 2017
“But they still lead me back to the long and winding road” – The Long and Winding Road, Beatles, 1970 In January 2000, I was an MBA student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. On the first day of Internet Strategy class, Professor Austan Goolsbee (eventually one of President Obama’s economic advisers), […]