At the beginning of the year, the Federal Reserve was expected to hike interest rates at least twice. Instead, it cut rates three times. What should we expect in 2020? With numerous analysts and strategists warning about the likelihood of a major stock market crash in 2020, it’s all but guaranteed that the Fed will have to drop rates even...
Many people look at surging stock markets, and especially hot stocks like Amazon and Netflix, and think that they can make it big investing in stocks. Yet very few investors are actually able to make market-beating stock gains, let alone even match the market. The sooner they understand that, the sooner they’ll be able to make investment decisions that...
With the recent changes Congress made to retirement savings laws, more firms today will be able to market annuities to those enrolled in workplace retirement programs. Insurance companies lobbied hard for those provisions, hoping to capture a piece of the trillions of dollars Americans have invested through workplace 401(k) and retirement savings plans. But while annuities are often touted...
As 2019 winds to a close, stock markets continue to see record highs. It’s a lot different than this time last year, when markets were plummeting to end the year. So what has changed? Well, the Federal Reserve decided to plow another few hundred billion dollars into financial markets to end the year, with that money finding its way to...
While many investors know about investing in gold and silver, most probably don’t know that there are other precious metals in which they can invest. One of the most common precious metals aside from gold and silver is platinum, which has a long history of use in jewelry. Many investors may think that platinum is more expensive than gold, which...
With the House of Representatives having impeached President Trump last Wednesday, the natural question is: what effect will that have on markets? Judging by the way stock markets reacted in early trading on Thursday, not much. The Dow Jones shot up over a hundred points in early trading to start the day, shrugging off the widely anticipated impeachment. Will...
Many people like to joke about how Congress always drags its feet on important pieces of legislation or on important societal issues. One need only look at the crisis facing Social Security, something that Congress hasn’t focused on at all, to see a crystal clear example of it. But every now and then Congress makes a sudden move that...
Many investors want to benefit from the protection that precious metals offer. But making the decision about which precious metal to invest in can be a daunting one. Some investors may prefer to invest in gold, which has seen centuries of use as a hedge against inflation and financial crisis. Others may prefer to invest in silver, which has...
Gold is set to achieve its greatest annual gains since 2010, and it’s just the beginning of what could be a record-setting bull run. If the current gold price holds up through the end of the year, gold will have gained about 15% in value over the course of the year, the highest annual increase since 2010, when it...
Eastern Europe has seen a gold rush of sorts as numerous countries have sought to repatriate their gold holdings that had been held abroad. Some of that gold had been held in London since World War II, and its repatriation was a closely guarded secret only publicized after it was successful. So far Poland, Slovakia, Serbia, and Hungary have...