Last Wednesday, InvestmentNews hosted its annual market outlook webcast, titled “Money, Markets and Mystery.” The timing couldn’t have been better, because that day’s trading action brought money, markets and mystery to the fore, with GameStop Corp. shares embodying the “mystery.”
The heavy shorting of GME stock underlies the coverage — and shorting remains a mystery to so many, including new investors and long-term market observers. Couple that with some of this activity reportedly coming from new online arenas for investors, Twitter and Reddit, where gamification of investing was brought to the fore.
The massive money moves led to breathless coverage of these names on financial and mass media, and gave me flashbacks to 1999-2000, as market pundits waved their arms over these small names. It was energizing — but it misses the point.
The long-term reality of the market was captured on the webcast by Commonwealth Financial vice president Peter Essele, who said there was a reason for the sell-off that was lost in the barrage of information about GameStop; the real factor behind the sell-off, he said, was the Fed’s dovish tone in its statement after the Open Market Committee meeting.
Despite drama and gamification, the mystery of the market is no real secret: It always comes back to long-term fundamentals, and not passing drama around an off-the-run name.
As retirement costs climb, millions of millennials and Generation X adults continue relying on parental support, highlighting obstacles to retirement readiness.
Les Smith, who once played alongside future MLB stars Eugenio Suárez and Nick Castellanos, says lessons from professional baseball helped fuel his transition to independent wealth management after 11 years at Edward Jones.
A November hacking incident involving cloud apps used by three employee exposed names, Social Security numbers, and other account data, the mega-RIA said.
Paul V. Morris worked at multiple firms across Wall Street and most recently in Manhattan for Merrill Lynch.
Convicted by an LA jury on 13 of 17 counts, the Citron Research founder and activist short seller now is now facing a statutory 25-year federal prison sentence.
As $84 trillion prepares to change hands, advisors who treat estate planning as peripheral are quietly building a sieve, not a book.
In volatile markets, the advisors who win aren't the ones with the best calls - they're the ones whose clients stay the course.
