The ride from here could get a lot bumpier after the Dow registered its worst one-day loss since June 11 on Friday, knocking the blue-chip index to its lowest point since May 26, and at least momentarily knocking the wind out of equity investors who may be gradually losing theirRead More →
“ ‘If you don’t have a tail hedge, I suggest not being in the market we’re facing a huge amount of uncertainty.’ ” That’s “Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb offering his view on the risks swirling in the market and a growing lack of clarityRead More →
Q: My father passed last year with an IRA valued at $90K with me as the sole beneficiary. I have a brother and a sister that should have been named. Is there a way to draw a legal document that would instruct the broker to split (roll?) the account intoRead More →
Don’t bet on a “wall of cash” to come streaming into the stock market. Equity analysts have touted the $4.7 trillion held in U.S. money-market funds as a proxy for the excess cash held by investors that might make its way into stocks. Some money managers say they have keptRead More →
Investors have plowed money into a new exchange-traded fund that tracks the sports betting and online gambling industries, even as professional competition remains closed. It’s a sign, industry-watchers say, of confidence in the longer-term outlook for the sector, as well as a reminder that many people are substituting play inRead More →
As fears of a second wave of Covid-19 weigh on stocks, here’s some potentially good news: A vaccine may be approved before the November election, according to a major biotechnology investing research firm. The prediction is a big deal for investors for three reasons. 1. It’s credible because it comesRead More →
The stock market, particularly in its current state, is no place for amateurs. Sullimar Capital analyst Bill Brewster delivered that message to followers in a heartbreaking Twitter TWTR, -0.96% thread in which he shared a family member’s tragic foray into trading. Here’s the full story: Alex Kearns, just 20 yearsRead More →
Hi, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for five years to a 4-year-old and 2-year-old. I’m 32 and I don’t see a clear deadline for when I can return to work. My husband makes 150k a year and is contributing to his 401(k) at 3% with a 3% match. My questionRead More →
We often look to the past to make decisions for the future. Yet the coronavirus pandemic presents a unique dilemma: How can we navigate circumstances that none of us has ever experienced? The implications of this pandemic — and the steps taken by public health officials, political leaders and corporateRead More →
Warren Buffett famously said: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” So it has been with the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to the rigor with which companies have engaged with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) concerns. Whether it takes the form of companies workingRead More →
Introduction: Over the coming months, I will have a series of articles discussing how to build a retirement portfolio using Business Development Companies (“BDCs”) currently yielding over 12% and their safer notes – baby bonds/preferred shares with yield-to-maturities ranging from 6.5% to 9.0%. This article discusses Fidus Investment (FDUS) currentlyRead More →
The dual plagues of the pandemic and racial inequities are shining a powerful light on the cracks and gaps in our systems and revealing the horrific toll of unchecked racism that affect communities of color. I have been flooded with calls from friends, clients, allies, and partners who are notRead More →
Tales of out-of-work 20- and 30-somethings using coronavirus stimulus checks to scoop up stocks on Wall Street with reckless abandon are coming fast and furious, but the reasons behind the recent fervor for investing is, perhaps, far simpler. MarketWatch has written a bit about the rising influence of retail investorsRead More →
Investors usually must contend with a trade-off between income and growth. Not so with the Reaves Utility Income fund, which has a 6.48% dividend yield and performance that has beaten the S&P 500 Index US:SPX over the past 10 and 15 years. That’s unusual, given that the benchmark index isRead More →
The numbers: Some 1.54 million Americans applied for traditional jobless benefits in early June and more than 700,000 sought compensation though an emergency federal program, reflecting both a steady decline in job losses from the coronavirus but a still-worrisome number of layoffs. Initial jobless claims slowed to 1.54 million inRead More →
Asian markets mostly fell in early trading Thursday, following losses on Wall Street after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the economic recovery will be “a long road.” Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, -1.43% dropped 1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, -0.76% slipped 0.5%. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.23% wasRead More →
U.S. stock-market futures edged higher Sunday evening in thin trading, as Wall Street equities looked to add to a rally toward records for the Nasdaq Composite that concluded trade last week on the back of improving economic data in the face of a viral outbreak. How are benchmarks faring? FuturesRead More →
The U.S. stock market has made a remarkable comeback from its late-March bottom. We have just seen the best 50-day rally ever, according to LPL Financial Research. But investors always need to be careful. Jeff Reeves lists five stocks with momentum and upside potential to buy now, contrasting them withRead More →
At the risk of sounding like Thomas Friedman, who is famous for getting insights from taxi drivers, when I get in an Uber UBER, +2.14% or a Lyft LYFT, +7.02% I often find myself talking to the driver. About the job, the company, the passengers, and so on. One ofRead More →
U.S. stock-index futures bounced around in thin trading early Monday morning, amid violent protests that reverberated throughout the country. The clashes between police and protesters come while the U.S., and much of the world, is in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the domestic economy to itsRead More →
If you’re an investor who doesn’t want to miss out on the next big trend, you had better pay attention to what’s going on in space. When people think about the space business, they may be excited that on Saturday the U.S. finally regained the ability to send people intoRead More →
Don’t miss these top money and investing features: These money and investing stories, popular with MarketWatch readers this past week, offer ideas about how to manage your financial portfolio and invest strategically at a time when investors have become more optimistic — even as uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic, corporateRead More →
How do you make $1.7 trillion disappear? A trade war is one way, a new report has found. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York adds to previous findings that, despite pronouncements from the White House, Americans are paying — and paying stiffly — for the U.S.-ChinaRead More →
Oil futures fell Friday, with traders citing uncertainty about demand for fuel and rising U.S.-China tensions over Hong Kong, but the U.S. crude benchmark remained on track for its biggest monthly rise on record. “Demand is rising, and production is falling, but China might be the fly in the oilRead More →
As if getting divorced isn’t stressful enough, trying to do so during a pandemic may seem overwhelming. With normal routines disrupted, jobs and income lost, stock markets fluctuating, and real estate markets uncertain, it may seem nearly impossible to move forward once a decision to divorce has been reached. SoRead More →
