The Watchman Group

Six stocks currently make up almost 22% of the S&P 500 Index: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Netflix and Microsoft. Their dominance has been the source of fantastic debate in the investment community. Check out the following stats: Since the beginning of 2015, these stocks produced a cumulative return of +236%. The other 494 stocks … Read more

Popular wisdom holds that stocks are risky and bonds are safe. Over the last several months, huge amounts of capital have flowed out of stocks and into bonds as investors fled to the perceived safety of bonds. But is it “safe” to loan money for ten years at 0.7%, or for 30 years at 1.5%? That’s … Read more

Over the past few months, we have been asked several times how the market can be rising in the face of such terrible economic data. High on that data list is unemployment. Our economy went from the lowest unemployment rate in 70 years of 3.5% in February to 14.7% in April. In less than two … Read more

One thing we can say about the pandemic is that it is accelerating many trends that were already in place, as can be seen in many parts of our economy. Think about food and grocery delivery services, home workout solutions and the ability to conduct cashless/cardless transactions. Consider the idea that you can sign documents … Read more

If you withdrew funds from your IRA this year as part of a required minimum distribution (RMD), you are probably eligible to roll the funds back into your IRA. On March 27th, the US Congress passed the CARES Act which waived required minimum distributions for IRAs in 2020. For retirees who do not need the … Read more

Now is the time to be extra vigilant against scam artists seeking to defraud individuals during this Covid- 19 pandemic. The FBI recently issued warnings about the increasing activity of fraud associated with the pandemic. As of April 22, the FBI has reviewed over 3,600 cases of criminals setting up websites offering fake Covid-19 treatments, … Read more

Economic policies are powerful forces for the stock market. Whenever the money supply or federal deficit spending has grown faster than economic activity (which is happening right now to a HUGE extent), profit growth has been attractive. While the two don’t always move in tandem, this is clearly what the financial markets are predicting today. … Read more

The United States and entire global economy are experiencing an unimaginable collapse in economic activity. It is not caused by any economic or financial event, but by governments instructing people to stay at home and in many cases to cease working. Over the next few months, the headlines of traditional economic statistics are going to … Read more

Together, we are facing an unprecedented situation. The global pandemic is indiscriminately affecting all our families, our businesses, our communities and our investment portfolios. The coronavirus will be conquered, but no one knows how deep the downturn will go or how long it will last. As one author we admire stated, “The short to intermediate … Read more