Articles from the Stocks Category
Saving taxes in a bad stock market
December 21, 2018 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
There are two great things about bad stock markets: 1) opportunities to buy at attractive prices, and 2) opportunities to harvest tax losses. We have been hard at work over the last couple of weeks finding ways to save our…Read More
Lower cost ETFs now transaction-free on TD Ameritrade
October 25, 2017 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
Good news! Our preferred custodian, TD Ameritrade, recently announced that they are overhauling their offering of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that trade without commissions. Here are a few key improvements: The list of ETFs that transact without trading costs will…Read More
Correlation and Portfolio Performance
August 31, 2015 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
Different types of investments are subject to different types of risk. On days when you notice that stock prices have fallen, for example, it would not be unusual to see a rally in the bond market. Asset allocation refers to…Read More
10 Financial Terms Everyone Should Know
February 11, 2015 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
Understanding financial matters can be difficult if you don’t understand the jargon. Becoming familiar with these 10 financial terms may help make things clearer. 1. Time value of money The time value of money is the concept that money on…Read More
Share Class Conversions for Lower Investment Costs
January 22, 2015 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
Part of our job as financial advisors is to seek out the best investment service relative to fees for our clients. One of the many benefits of moving your accounts to TD Ameritrade is access to lower cost mutual fund…Read More
All About IPOs
January 13, 2015 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
Maybe you’ve heard someone talking about investing in “a hot new IPO” and wondered what all the fuss was about. Or maybe you’ve heard about a company “going public” and thought about whether you should invest in it. If you’re…Read More
What does a -1.62% decline in the S&P on September 25th tell you?
September 26, 2014 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
It seems that whenever the daily price change of the stock market exceeds plus or minus 1%, the news headlines provide us with an indication that we should panic or rejoice. As you can see in the chart of daily…Read More
What do insurance companies invest in?
September 24, 2014 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
It is important to keep in mind what insurance companies are actually investing in when considering the features of annuities and cash value life insurance contracts. According to a paper published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in April…Read More
Why News Headlines Drive Investment Behavior
June 11, 2014 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
The following is an excerpt from an article recently written by Jim Parker of Dimensional Fund Advisors. He examines the human instinct to link recent global news events to stock market performance. Understanding how our brains are wired can make…Read More
High-Frequency Trading: Unsafe at Any Speed?
June 6, 2014 | By Kevin Smith, CFA
You may have heard news reports recently about the controversy on Wall Street over high-frequency trading. Though the practice isn’t new, it has received fresh attention in recent months as multiple regulatory agencies have launched investigations of high-frequency trading (HFT)…Read More