I was lucky to start my career at a small firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Securities Corporation of Iowa (SCI). Lucky, in that SCI put an emphasis on teaching its brokers how to be portfolio managers and the CEO, John Knapp, took a particular interest in instructing the youngest members of the firm.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup recently started in June, and like many former players and crazed soccer fans, my eyes have been glued to the television for every game. Their recent win against the Thai team, a whopping 13 - 0 victory, was an unusual type of game. Typically each game looks about the same, and can be at times predictable.
Well that turned out well.
What is it about big life moments that really get you thinking about the future? A common question we get from potential clients is “When is the right time to start talking to a financial planner?” Typically these questions arise right around the time of a big life change.
When it comes to ascertaining why markets behave the way they do, it’s always best to look to human emotions. The primary motivators in financial markets have always been fear and greed. Emotions so strong they can, on a regular basis, inflict extreme volatility into public markets. But markets forget. In the period since the great recession (2008-2009), the Federal Reserve Bank had invested so much liquidity into financial markets that most volatility (and with it, most fear and greed) had dissipated. Most investors should probably be forgiven for having taken low volatility for granted, but with the Fed’s posture reversed during 2018, volatility would return and once again fear and greed would dominate the direction of markets.