The New Year is a customary time to speculate. In a digital age, when past forecasts are available online, market and media professionals find it harder to hide their blushes when their financial predictions go awry. But there are ways around that. The ignominy that goes with making bold forecasts was highlighted in a recent newspaper article, which listed many […]
Client Letter – Q4 2015
During the past year, the best performing asset classes were international small stocks and REITs (real estate). US stock returns ranged from -8% to 2%. Emerging markets lost about 16%! The following chart shows the 3-month, 1-year, and 3-year performance of many DFA funds (representing different asset classes) compared to the S&P 500 Index:Market Returns for the period ending December 31, […]
Quarterly Market Review – Q4 2015
For an in-depth look at the world capital market performance and a timeline of events during the past quarter, here is our Quarterly Market Review: About Christopher Jones Christopher Jones is the Founder and President of Sparrow Wealth Management, a fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. Before entering the investment field, Chris was a management consultant for Deloitte Monitor. […]
Market Commentary – Channel 8 News interview
Today, I was interviewed by Channel 8 News (in Las Vegas) about the current market conditions and the impact of the Chinese markets on Las Vegas businesses. Here are some of my answers to their questions: 1) The 450 point drop this morning had some people nervous. Were you? No, not at all. I focus on the long term. I […]
Which Hat Are You Wearing?
Most of us have multiple roles – as business owners, professionals, workers, consumers, citizens, students, parents and investors. So our views of the world can differ according to whatever hat we’re wearing at any one time. This complexity of people and their range of motivations, depending on their circumstances, highlight the inadequacy of cookie-cutter or automated investment solutions. For instance, […]
Unhealthy Attachments
Have you ever made yourself suffer through a bad movie because, having paid for the ticket, you felt you had to get your money’s worth? Some people treat investment the same way. Behavioral economists have a name for this tendency of people and organizations to stick with a losing strategy purely on the basis that they have put so much […]
Quarterly Market Review – Q3 2015
For an in-depth look at the world capital market performance and a timeline of events during the past quarter, here is our Quarterly Market Review: About Christopher Jones Christopher Jones is the Founder and President of Sparrow Wealth Management, a fee-only financial planning and investment management firm. Before entering the investment field, Chris was a management consultant for Deloitte Monitor. […]
Client Letter – Q3 2015
Welcome to your second online quarterly letter! For emphasis, I am going to repeat the first paragraph from our previous quarterly letter, where we announced our new reporting and billing process: “Your quarterly reports and bills can now be found in the Orion folder in your eMoney Vault. We have also moved your documents from Sharefile to eMoney. Your new and improved […]
Thoughts on Market Correction
If you check out the news headlines regularly (not recommended!), it can be unsettling to hear about the worldwide stock market swings of the last three weeks. Stock market declines were in the news again today after new reports of an economic slowdown in China. Here are a couple of things to think about as you assess the news: We […]
The Patience Principle
Global markets are providing investors a rough ride at the moment, as the focus turns to China’s economic outlook. But while falling markets can be worrisome, maintaining a longer term perspective makes the volatility easier to handle. A typical response to unsettling markets is an emotional one. We quit risky assets when prices are down and wait for more certainty. […]
