Wealth Management

What a tournament! March Madness did not disappoint. I was rooting for Baylor to win, and they did! I entered ESPN's Tournament Challenge and finished in the 94^th percentile, ranking 843,000 out of 14 million. My final game prediction was Baylor beating Gonzaga 74 – 72. The final score was 86 – 70. As always, there were several surprises and exciting moments like UCLA's march to the final four and Jared Suggs game-winning shot.

I booked a flight for the first time in over a year. In May, I will fly to Los Angeles to visit my parents; our first in-person visit since December 2019. I look forward to waiting in long lines and battling the Los Angeles traffic.

Stocks, Bitcoin, and NFTs, are surging. The NASDAQ is up 41% since last March, Bitcoin soared 627%, and last week, the artist Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million. The economy is opening up, stimulus checks are coming, and investors are in growth mode. If everyone is making money buying stocks and other investments, why is it time to buy T-Bills? Let's find out.

Do you know the rate of return on your investments? Have you ever calculated your total return? In my experience, most investors don't know what they earn on their money. Of course, I often hear about winning stock trades – never the losers, nor do people tell me how much they allocate to their trades. A 10% gain on a million-dollar investment is more impactful than one where you only commit $100.

It's finally here! The greatest sporting event is back after last year's hiatus. Though fans, bands, cheerleaders, and mascots are missing, it's still exciting to watch. My family and I look forward to competing against each other with our brackets, and I always participate in ESPN's Tournament Challenge, hoping that I will be the one with the perfect bracket. However, after Oral Roberts beat Ohio State, I'm out, and so are 95% of the other participants.

Is America waking up from its COVID slumber? The number of people getting vaccinated is increasing daily. Yesterday, Governor Greg Abbott of Texas eliminated the mask mandate, and he's allowing businesses to open up at 100% capacity. Mississippi is doing the same. President Biden anticipates most Americans will receive the vaccine by May. Are we ready for another Roaring Twenties?

Investors fear rising interest rates. Since the start of the year, the 10-Year US Treasury yield is up 66% to 1.54%. It's still low, but the speed at which it climbed is worrying investors. For the past fourteen years, the yield on the 10-Year averaged 2.33%. The high was 4.01%, the low was .52%. Does it make sense to sell stocks as rates are climbing? Maybe.

What a difference a year makes. Last March, COVID appeared, and global commerce came to a halt. The Dow Jones fell more than 30% as investors reacted to the virus and economic shutdown. Initially, working from home was expected to last a few weeks before things returned to normal. Larry Kudlow, former director of the National Economic Council, said, "We have contained this.

Gamestop stock has soared more than 1,750% over the past few weeks, led by an army of Robinhood traders utilizing sites like Reddit and WallStreetBets. These social media warriors knocked one hedge fund manager to its knees as Gamestop soared to dizzying heights.