The Old Bull Market is Stumbling. Are Stocks Too Risky? After years of fairly steady advances in the stock market, and repeated warnings that prices were getting too high, February brought a sudden 10% correction — reminding us that equities sometimes go down really fast. That icy plunge, followed by choppy markets since, have stirred […]
Continue readingThe ink from today’s stock market meltdown is hardly dry, so perhaps it’s premature (and dangerous) to write anything about it. So far, at 5pm, there is virtually nothing in the news that would seem to justify how quickly the market tanked this afternoon, nor why it ended the day down so much. If you’re […]
Continue readingWe opened Monarch Capital in August, 1994. A customer brought us the proceeds, $5.5 million, from the sale of his company in October 1994. He had sold it to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), so if he invested the proceeds into common stocks within one year, he did not owe any capital gains taxes […]
Continue readingThank you to all who joined us at our “annual” Fall Seminar on October 24. Quite a few clients were at their very first Monarch seminar. We will host a couple of lunch seminars this winter, as we do every winter. Stay tuned…. Also a huge thanks to Lakeland Financial CEO, David Findlay, for taking […]
Continue readingSupply & Demand: What’s the Point (of intersection)? Welcome to fall! Now that fall stopped trying to be mid-summer, we can think about fall things, like Back to School night. Dave and I cherish a special memory from one of the (few) times he accompanied me and Mom to Back to School night. He asked […]
Continue readingWelcome to Proxy War season! If you elected to have proxy forms and annual reports mailed to you, by now you’ve likely received the annual report and proxy form for ADP. Within the mailing, you’ll find an insert trumpeting ADP’s successes and asking that you vote for their board slate on the “white” proxy form. […]
Continue readingWe are always on the lookout for events or trends which might have the ability to change the market. There is a great deal written about income inequality. How often have you seen articles about a CEO of some large company being paid $30 million while some poor guy on the line is making $30,000 […]
Continue readingINVESTING IN BANK STOCKS: WEAR A LIFE JACKET The banking industry has a long and generally honorable history, and many good citizens have grown wealthy by investing in it. But with the wrong bank, there are big risks. Bank investing can be like taking a cruise. Most of the time it’s smooth sailing, but […]
Continue readingSo what do you think about this Trump rally? This is a question we are getting frequently. I have to admit we were a bit surprised by how strong the market has been since the election. Is the market getting expensive, should we raise some cash? The market is up 5% since the election so […]
Continue readingThe one (and only) thing that we all expected would come to fruition today is that volatility would reign. Few people predicted a Trump win, and far fewer predicted a Republican sweep of Congress and the executive branch. That said, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Republicans retained the Senate, because the factors that brought […]
Continue reading