Insights
Market Commentary
Market Commentary: Chinese GDP Grew in 2020; U.S. Corporations Outperform Q4 Expectations.
Chinese GDP grew 2.3% in 2020, making it the only major economy to grow last year. In the fourth quarter, the Chinese economy grew 6.5% as China continued to gain ground on the U.S. economy. The growth was led by strong performance in industrial production, which rose 7.3% in December, compared to a year earlier.
Read MoreVideos
Quarterly Market Outlook, First Quarter 2021
Join Scott Kubie, Senior Investment Strategist at Carson Group, for our Q1 2021 Quarterly Market Outlook webinar. Click Here to Watch the Webinar
Read MoreMarket Commentary
Market Commentary: Biden Proposes New Stimulus Package as Signs Point to Economic Slowdown
The signs of an economic slowdown continue. Initial jobless claims, which are released weekly, spiked to 965,000 last week. Claims increased by 181,000 and marked the highest weekly total since mid-August. Continuing claims increased 199,000, indicating those losing work are not finding new employment right away. Based on other data points, many of those filing for unemployment expect to be rehired when newly imposed restrictions are reduced.
Read MoreMarket Commentary
Market Commentary: Markets Start the New Year Strong Despite the Chaos in Washington
The vivid pictures and appalling actions in Washington, D.C., Wednesday captured the attention of the globe, but not the interest of markets. The Democratic sweep in the Georgia Senate races didn’t attract a lot of interest from investors either. Neither were markets fazed by the first loss of jobs in a monthly employment report since the recovery began.
Read MoreMonthly Newsletters
Help Improve Your Financial Plan This Year with These One-time Adjustments
It’s no secret that many people do not keep their New Year’s resolutions. Every year around this time, gym memberships go up and personal planners fly off the shelves. A few weeks later, the planner gets left on the train and the gym, well, it’s just so far out of the way! New Year’s resolutions have a whopping shelf life of about a month, and only 20% or so make it further.
Read MoreMarket Commentary
Market Commentary: S&P 500 Finishes the Year at a Record High, Unemployment Numbers Decrease Slowly
The S&P 500 wrapped up a surprising year with another strong week. The index of large-cap stocks, including dividends, climbed 1.5% and finished 18.4% higher for the year. Figure 1 shows the performance of the S&P 500, ex-dividends, in 2020 and just how far stocks have roared back from their lows.
Read MoreMarket Commentary
Market Commentary: Trump Signs New Stimulus Package as Vaccine Distribution Continues
The new stimulus package approved by the House and Senate was signed by President Trump Sunday night. The president had proposed upping the aid to individuals to $2,000 after the bipartisan agreement had been reached. Garnering support for that proposal would likely have proven difficult and economic urgency made signing the bill the logical choice. The need for additional support was evidenced by a 1.2% decline in disposable income (Figure 1).
Read MoreBlog
17 Things You Need to Know About the New Stimulus Package
Congress passed the new $900 billion economic relief and spending bill on Monday. While most of the focus has been on a second round of relief payments to most Americans, there is plenty more in the 5,000-plus pages of the stimulus package.
Read MoreBlog
How to Make Sense of Retirement and Estate Finance
Retirement is far off until it isn’t. This chapter of life can sneak up on just about anyone, and we do ourselves a favor to be as prepared as we can. Like anything involving the government, finances can be confusing, with different tax treatments, contribution limits, beneficiary rules and more.
Read MoreMarket Commentary
Market Commentary: New Support Package to Provide Assistance to Individuals, Businesses and More
The economic slowdown continues. Initial jobless claims climbed 885,000 last week. In the face of additional restrictions and heightened health risks, consumers have scaled back activity. Retail and food service sales dipped 1.1% last month (Figure 1).
Read More