Financial Commentary – Public

Two of the best proven investment managers of the past 70 years appear to agree with my view that there are few apparent red flags to concern investors today. While client portfolios are always diversified and always weighted a bit cautious, I believe we are living through an epic era for liquid investments like stocks, bonds, REIT’s and Maser Limited Partnerships. THIS is a good time to build wealth for the future. Here’s what two giants have to say: READ MORE

The IRS has released the annual inflation-adjusted contribution, deductible, and out-of-pocket expense limits for 2019 for health savings accounts (HSAs). Eligible individuals may, subject to statutory limits, make deductible contributions to an HSA. Employers, as well as other persons (e.g., family members), also may contribute on behalf of an eligible individual. A person is an […]

Year to Date Statistics (through June 30, 2018)

Morningstar U.S. Equity index + 3.08%

MSCI International Index -2.75%

Long term bonds -4.25% Intermediate Term bonds -1.19%

Preferred Stock index down -1.19%

The Virtue of Worry

Worry is suffering felt for an injury that has not yet and may not happened, but we worry anyway. […]

Based in Richmond, Virginia, Dominion Energy is an integrated energy company, third largest in the United States, with approximately 27,000 megawatts of electric generation capacity; 15,000 miles of natural gas transmission, storage, distribution and gathering pipelines; and more than 63,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. […]

Quarter and report March 29, 2018

A positive quarter despite higher volatility

So often it is difficult to separate day to day market action and financial headlines from the big picture. The recently passed quarter was a perfect example. What we saw was a sudden return to a “normal“ market. When we speak of stocks, the […]

The charts in this article, summarizing major world equity market performance, are instructive. Each has a vertical bar chart showing the range between high and low of the past 52 weeks. Virtually all markets, USA, Japan, China and European are near their 52 week highs. It has been a decade since all important world economies were expanding simultaneously. This bodes well for the future, and it is unlikely that this momentum will suddenly reverse. READ ARTICLE

Capitalism is a wonderful system for efficiently allocating resources. It harnesses the power of individual profit incentive (AKA “greed”) to benefit society overall. However, when government fails to insure a level playing field for capitalist investors, confidence can quickly disappear, and the system can actually collapse. I urge you to read the article below and to contact your Congressional representatives to support much greater scrutiny of Congressional aides’ investing activity. 09-25-2017, From POLITICO, “Congressional aides risk conflicts with stock trades” by Maggie Severns. READ THE ARTICLE

On Sept. 28, 2016, three members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Justice Department suggesting that the drug company Mylan was violating Medicaid laws. Nine days later, the Justice Department reached a massive $465 million settlement with the firm.READ THE ARTICLE