While working at Morgan Stanley, I hired scores of individuals for the firm’s financial advisor training program. Directly or indirectly, I talked to hundreds of individuals about our firm. To hire hundreds, I reviewed thousands of resumes.
Finding individuals to work at Morgan Stanley was not...
November is the beginning of the giving season. From now until the end of the year, charities and non-profits will receive much-needed dollars to help fund their mission. For several organizations, the money they receive in the next few weeks will subsidize most of their annual budget. Individuals...
Webster dictionary defines endurance as the “ability to withstand hardship or adversity, especially the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.” The ability to endure trials and tribulations is vital if you want to experience victory. We learn and grow through adversity.
Loy...
It’s easy to fall in love with a stock, especially if you handpicked it yourself. Over the years, I’ve talked to scores of investors about their favorite stocks, and most prefer to hold on to them forever regardless of allocation or performance. If you’re emotionally attached to a company, try not...
The Washington Nationals are going to the World Series for the first time in their history. The Nationals moved to Washington DC in 2005 from Montreal where they were the first major league baseball team in Canada. The Expos played in Montreal from 1969 to 2004. The combined franchise has had some...
Teachers and non-profit professionals do remarkable work. They prefer to work for a cause rather than a paycheck. The hours are long, but the impact they have on others is significant. I still remember the influence my 4th-grade teacher had on my life.
My mom, grandmother, aunts, sister, and...
Stocks are soaring and nearing all-time highs. As they continue to climb a wall of worry, they’re leaving nervous investors stranded on the sidelines. I started thinking about the historical performance of the stock market and wondered why investors don’t buy the best performing funds?
After a...
Full stop. The end. Period. No more. No Mas. I’ve noticed lately that politicians, commentators, and other public figures have been using the term “full stop.” I guess they want to punctuate their point, so the viewer or reader knows they’ve stated their position, and there will be no more...
Twice a year, my neighborhood holds a yard sale. It’s well advertised, so people come from all over town to hunt for trinkets and treasures. The buyers arrive with a plan and a purpose.
The people who visit our neighborhood are seasoned yard sale shoppers. Arriving in trucks with trailers, they...
Schwab dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when they announced they’ll reduce commission rates on stocks, ETFs, and options to zero! Not to be outdone, TD Ameritrade and E*Trade quickly followed suit. As a result of the announcement, Schwab’s stock fell 14%, TD Ameritrade slumped 28%, and E*Trade plunged...
We like shiny new objects. For investors, the object is the initial public offering or IPO. Getting in on the ground floor of a hot offering is a huge draw. A few high-profile private companies are now publicly traded. Companies like UBER, Pinterest, Slack, Lyft, Chewy, Beyond Meat, Levi Strauss...
Interest rates are falling, and investors are starving for income. Coupon rates on U.S. Treasuries are paying less than 2% except for the 30-Year U.S. Treasury bond, which is paying 2.25%. Corporate bonds, CD’s, and tax-free bonds aren’t paying much more. The Federal Open Market Committee recently...