There have been four stock market corrections (a decline of 10 percent or more from the recent high) during the current eight-year long bull market. According to research dating back to 1900, corrections have occurred about once a year on average, and lasted on average about 115 days. Over the past thirty years or so, the S&P 500 has seen 21 corrections. Talk is increasing that correction number five of the second longest bull market on record, is just around the corner. If you are a long-term investor, you should be rooting for a correction. After all, wouldn’t you rather buy stocks at a 10 percent discount to where they are today?

How Does Healthcare's Defeat Impact Trump Economic Agenda?

After suffering a stinging defeat on healthcare, what’s next for the Trump economic agenda? The first lesson for the new President is that despite holding a majority in both the House and the Senate, lawmaking is complicated and difficult. That said, because they failed to clear their first legislative hurdle, will Trump and Speaker Ryan be able to enact the next item on their to do list, tax reform, not to mention infrastructure spending?

BlogMark TalercioMarch 25, 2017ACA, debt, deficit, healthcare, Obamacare, Tax Policy Center, tax reform, Trumpcare

Economic Growing Pains 2017

"The simple message is the economy is doing well," Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said in the press conference that followed the central bank’s third quarter-point rate hike in 15 months. She went on to say "We have confidence in the robustness of the economy and its resilience to shocks." You might be wondering what exactly “well” means. Let’s start with the long-term economic growth rate, which has averaged about three percent annually for the 50 years from 1966 through 2016.

Strong Feb Jobs Means Fed Rate Hike

Get ready for a Fed interest rate hike this week. The February jobs report showed that the US economy added a larger than expected 235,000 jobs, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.7 percent and annual wage growth bounced back from a revised 2.6 percent in January to 2.8 percent, ahead of the 2.7 percent average seen in the second half of last year. The increase in wages demonstrates that the labor market is tightening and that state-level minimum wage hikes are filtering through the economy.

Six Ways to Reduce Your Tax Bill

Although the IRS code is complicated and thorny, there are plenty of legitimate ways to reduce your tax bill. Before you sit down to attack your taxes, grab last year’s return as a reference and then review your W-2s, 1099s, charitable contribution receipts. Additionally, your credit card and bank statements may be useful to jog your memory for unreimbursed business or medical expenses. Then, consider these six concepts:

Bull Market Celebrates Eight on a High

As the bull market in US stocks gets set to celebrate its eighth birthday this week, it is stunning to consider how far we have come. On March 9, 2009, here was the closing level of the three major indexes:

Dow: 6547 – lowest level since April 15, 1997
S&P 500: 676 – lowest level since Sept 12, 1996
NASDAQ: 1268 – lowest level since Oct 9, 2002

Buffett Advocates Passive Investing

“Both large and small investors should stick with low-cost index funds,” according to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In his annual shareholder letter, the Oracle of Omaha reminded investors something they probably know intuitively, “When trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it will usually be the managers who reap outsized profits, not the clients.” This is not a new message for Buffett. Three years ago, he provided similar advice to the trustees of his estate: “Put 10 percent of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90 percent in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund…I believe the trust's long-term results from this policy will be superior to those attained by most investors…who employ high-fee managers.”

Roth IRA Q&A

The Roth IRA turns twenty years old this year. The retirement vehicle was part of the Tax Relief Act of 1997 and it was seen as such a boon to savers, many believed that it would not survive. Two decades later, it is alive and well. As many Americans consider funding retirement plans this tax season, it’s a good opportunity to provide you with a Roth Q&A.

Trump Tax Reform 2017

On Tuesday night, the President will speak to a joint session of Congress, where he could finally outline details of a major overhaul to the personal and corporate tax system. Last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that the administration is “primarily focused on a middle-income tax cut and simplification for business. And what we are focused is that on the high end, if there are tax cuts, that they are offset with reduction of deductions and other things.”

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