Resources and Stories for Real People

In recent weeks, several Wall Street market strategists have warned of lower expected returns for U.S. stocks over the next decade. Current valuations have been a common basis for these pessimistic views. The difficulty of predicting the absolute level of future stock returns over any period, particularly short periods, is

Key Takeaways Japanese stocks experienced a historic single-day decline in early August. However, the market rebounded rather quickly. The decline was followed by a spike in global market volatility, with the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) reaching levels seen only during major financial crises. Historically, as with this example, keeping focus

Culture in the U.S. is described as individualistic, whereas it is described as collectivistic in China. Psychologist Geert Hofstede defines individualism as “a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of only themselves and their immediate families.” He defines collectivism, its opposite, as

I recently had an experience that may be relatable to a lot of people who have thought about their own money, their kids’ money, or their clients’ money. For the last two July 4th weekends, my father-in-law has helped our children set up a lemonade stand in town. This year,

Key Takeaways With election uncertainty often comes increased market volatility, but this typically subsides after the election. Historical market performance has varied widely around elections but has on average been positive regardless of which political party has been victorious. Market timing based on elections is risky and unlikely to outperform

Key Takeaways The move to T+1 settlement for U.S. securities represents a significant development expected to reduce counterparty risk for investors. The shift is a continuation of a longer-term trend toward shorter settlement cycles driven by technological advancements. Other non-U.S. markets have already enacted T+1, with more markets expected to