Now that the Olympics have wrapped up, it created an incredible opportunity for the country to come together as one no matter the political affiliation and be proud to be an American. These elite athletes have dedicated countless days, weeks and years to their sports to be able to compete on the global stage,…
As the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for PDS Planning, Kurt Brown helps navigate the economic landscape to make sound investment decisions for the firm’s clients. As a principal, Kurt oversees all compliance efforts to maintain the firm’s strong culture of compliance. He also is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) Charterholder, one of…
Did you receive a surprise payment from the IRS into your checking account on July 15th? No this is not a scam, and more payments are likely on the way! Congress increased the Child Tax Credit for families as part of the coronavirus relief package this spring. Rather than receiving the entire tax credit at…
July 2021 Financial Markets Summary The first 6 months of 2021 have fortunately been much less eventful than the first 6 month of 2020. Stock markets around the world have been performing quite well with the S&P 500 up 15%, developed international 10% and emerging markets 8.5%. The unemployment rate has dropped significantly from the…
June 2021 Financial Markets Summary Life is getting back “closer” to normal. School is out for the summer, many companies are bringing employees back in the office, most mask mandates have been lifted and people are excited about planning their summer vacations. However, the housing market is nowhere remotely close to normal. “Pick any housing…
May 2021 Financial Markets Summary Have you noticed paying a little more at the grocery, your favorite restaurant, home improvement store or at the pump lately? Many companies chose not to pass along price increases last year due to COVID-19. However, consumers are now experiencing inflation throughout many parts of the economy. At Berkshire Hathaway’s…
April 2021 Financial Markets Summary March marked the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 driven market bottom. According to the CDC, over 30 million Americans have tested positive and unfortunately, over 500,000 lives have been lost in the United States. The pharmaceutical industry stepped up by rapidly developing several FDA approved vaccines. Approximately 30% of…
March 2021 Financial Markets Summary In times like today, the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus’s quote, “the only constant in life is change” couldn’t ring more true. We have just gone through a year of incredible change with COVID-19 and the countless things that it impacted. As the temperatures start to warm and the seasons change,…
February 2021 Financial Markets Summary The Super Bowl weekend is here! Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers will square off against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The parties may look much different this year as the nation battles COVID-19, but we will continue to see significant spending and speculation just like we have experienced…
December 2020 Financial Markets Summary November was another strong month for the markets with positive news of vaccine results. Small cap stocks bounced by nearly 20% and energy, which has lagged for most of the year, jumped up 30%. However, recent flare-ups across the country suggest that the virus has yet to be contained and…
November 2020 Financial Markets Summary 2020 has been a year for the history books that we will all remember. For all that has taken place this year, we should have expected a tumultuous election season. As of early November 6th, mail-in ballots are still being counted to determine the Presidency. It appears that former vice-president…
October 2020 Financial Markets Summary Emotions are running high around the country with the upcoming election. Many are wondering how this will impact financial markets. The reality is elections come and go and things don’t tend to change too much. The status quo normally prevails. The world will continue to turn and Apple will continue…
September 2020 Financial Markets Summary The S&P 500 Index has historically been one of the best representations of the United States stock market. This is a market capitalization weighted index of 500 large companies in the U.S. Market capitalization weighted is a technical term meaning the larger the company, the larger the respective company weighting…
August 2020 Financial Markets Summary 2020 has been a year for the record books… and it’s only August! The markets have experienced an unprecedented amount of volatility with the fastest 30% or more domestic stock market decline in history, the biggest quarterly decline in GDP since 1947 and many well-known company bankruptcies such as Hertz,…
July 2020 Financial Markets Summary Growth vs. value, large vs. small and domestic vs. international are some of the most common ways to categorize stocks. However, James Investment Research, Inc. has recently coined a new label: reopening vs. quarantine. James suggests that in this market, there have been two type of stocks, the reopening and…
