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Most Families Say College is Worth the Cost
They Believe They’re Getting a Good Value for the Amount They Spend
The clear majority of families believe higher education is well-worth the investment, and most students and parents are willing to stretch themselves financially to make it happen, according to “How America Values College 2018,” the national study from Sallie Mae, the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, and Ipsos, an independent global market…
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Retirement Savings Snapshot Reveals A Growing Trend
Account Balances Rebound, While Auto Enrollment Continues to Drive Positive Savings Behavior
Fidelity Investments®, one of the most diversified financial services companies with more than $7.0 trillion in client assets, today released its quarterly analysis of retirement savings trends, including account balances, contributions, savings behavior and details on workplace savings plan design
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The New Movement of Money
Mobile banking mainstreams in the US, while digital payments fall short
New research from Mintel identifies new trends in how consumers manage their money
From checking account balances to depositing checks with the snap of a picture, mobile banking apps have passed the tipping point of mass adoption as 61% of Americans with an active deposit account use a mobile banking app. But despite widespread usage of banking apps, consumers have been comparatively slower to utilize them for payment…
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Mixed Results as Turkey Stumbles
Still, labor and consumer prices are on the rise
Stocks ended the week in mixed territory as trouble with Turkey's currency affected U.S. equity performance on Friday, August 10. For the week, the S&P lost 0.25%, the Dow declined 0.59%, and the NASDAQ increased 0.35%. International stocks in the MSCI EAFE stumbled, giving back 1.57%.
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Nearly Half of Americans Say Volatile Markets Are an Easy Way to Make a Profit
One-third characterized the financial markets during the first few months of 2018 as stable
So far this year, the U.S. stock market has been a financial roller coaster that has continued into summer. It has not been unusual to see the Dow swing in both directions by hundreds of points.
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Do Stock Market Numbers Really Matter?
No shortage of volatility... and an abundance of 'expert explanations'
Why this nagging weakness in the face of such strong economic indicators?
by Steve Selengut
The last "all time high" in the S & P 500 (2,873) was struck just over six months ago, on January 26th. Since then, it has been down roughly 10% on three different occasions, with no shortage of "volatility", and an abundance of expert explanations for this nagging weakness in the face of incredibly strong…
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SEC: Thinking Well Of The Crypto-Wave
Four reasons cryptocurrency is likely to be ‘the future of money’
by Brian Sewell
Tuesday’s SEC decision to postpone a ruling on whether to approve the SolidX Bitcoin Shares ETF for trading on The Chicago Board Options Exchange is a good sign. Given previous SEC statements, the postponement appears to suggest that the U.S. regulatory agency wants to issue a well-thought-out approval ruling that protects cryptocurrency investors and nurtures…
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Stocks Up as Data Comes In
Once again, trade and corporate earnings in the spotlight
Domestic markets ended last week in positive territory, as the S&P gained 0.76%, the Dow was up 0.05%, and the NASDAQ increased 0.96%. This performance marked the 5th week in a row that the S&P 500 and Dow posted gains.
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Investor Movement Index Remains Flat Despite Strong Market Performance in July
Retail investor optimism spurred by positive earnings reported during the period
The July Investor Movement Index® was unchanged from the prior month, remaining at 5.45, TD Ameritrade, Inc.1 announced today. The Investor Movement Index, or the IMXSM, is a proprietary, behavior-based index created by TD Ameritrade that aggregates Main Street investor positions and activity to measure what investors actually were doing and how they were positioned…
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Income Investing Fantasyland: High Dividend Equity ETFs and Mutual Funds
Much as I love high quality dividend producing equities, they are just not the answer for retirement income "readiness"
by Steve Selengut
Several years ago, while fielding questions at an AAII (American Association of Individual Investors) meeting in Northeast NJ, a comparison was made between a professionally directed "Market Cycle Investment Management" (MCIM) portfolio and any of several "High Dividend Select" equity ETFs.
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The Retirement Income Gender-Gap
Women expect to run out of money five years too soon in retirement
Women run a higher risk than men of being impoverished in old age as women retirees and pre-retirees on average expect to run out of money five years too soon in retirement, according to a new study from MassMutual.
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Examining Economic Growth
Mixed bag as growth appears strong, though tech-stocks lag
Markets experienced a push-and-pull last week between data indicating strong economic growth and lagging performance from several tech stocks' earnings reports.
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Data Optimization is Top Priority to Help Institutional Investors Benefit from Regulatory Change
White paper series with Economist Intelligence Unit focuses on data-driven solutions
The introduction of two major data-related regulations in 2018 changes how institutional investors and their financial services providers will manage their data needs and optimize their use of data going forward, according to new white paper sponsored by Northern Trust.
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