The stock market is a forward-looking indicator. Markets are meant to discount future cash flows and events to a present value. It’s not always right — stocks have predicted four out of the last eight recessions and so on —  but investors are constantly looking for signals in stock prices to shape their current outlook….

As they are wont to do on occasion, the markets are in the mist of a decent sell-off. The last 6 months or so have not been kind to the global markets. The S&P 500 is holding up surprisingly well in the face of much deeper losses in small caps, foreign stocks and emerging markets:

Investors often spend much of their time thinking tactically instead of psychologically. They want to know how to handle the next week or month in the markets without ever planning for the next year or decade.

In 2011, GMO’s Jeremy Grantham made a pretty bold call to buy commodities:

The fund I used to work for was invested in an investment manager that performed very well in 2008 when the majority of asset classes and portfolio managers were getting destroyed by the financial crisis and stock market collapse. This particular strategy was up double digits in a year when stocks fell close to 40%. This…

UNCONSTRAINED BOND FUND, n. A mutual fund, specializing in bonds, that places no limits on the number of ways in which it can provide disappointing results to its investors. – Jason Zweig, The Devil’s Financial Dictionary Investors often get exactly what they’re asking for, even if what they’re asking for will damage their performance.

A few truths about bear markets in stocks:

Here’s a recent headline from Investment News: Now here’s an alternative headline and byline: DOL fiduciary rule could add $2.4 billion to retirees’ pockets Implementing the standard on retirement accounts could help investors lower their costs by more than twice the current estimates, according to new research It’s all about how you look at it. Morningstar estimates…

There’s never been a better time to be an individual investor. Fees and commissions continue to drop. There are more options than ever for investment products, strategies and fund structures. And there’s an unbelievable amount of quality research and commentary about saving, investing, retirement and the markets available for free.

My brother has been hounding me for while now to look into the high school football coach who never punts. I finally did a deep dive by reading a few articles and watching some videos on Kevin Kelley, the head football coach at Pulaski Academy.