Today the New York Stock Exchange had a record setting day… in a very bad way. Without warning and in a period spanning just one minute, the market lost a combined $60 Billion in just the top 30 blue chip companies. That’s with a “B” folks.

The Associated Press said the following:

Stocks Have Worst Day Since 9/11 Attacks: Dow Down 416, Nasdaq Drop 97 on Global Market Plunge

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated.
Read the rest of this entry »

Nitroglycerin is volatile. So are markets, all markets. Always have been, always will be. In 2000 the stock market took a nose dive, just as it has, on average, every 7 years since they opened the doors of the NYSE.

Spinach farmers can tell you a thing or two about volatility with the recent food poisoning scare that came out of California. And a lot of people have a lifetimes worth of experience with making and losing money on real estate.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hiring someone to help manage your investments is every bit as difficult and as critical as hiring employees at work. You will not get it right 100% of the time, and it will cost you money as a result.

Having said all that, I’ve put together a guide based upon my cumulative experience in this area. Stick to it and you should be able to gather a lot of good information for comparing advisors prior to your selection.
Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re like me, you’re wondering what this war between Israel and Lebanon is going to do to the market here in the US. Fear not, Smith Barney’s Consulting Group has produced an article that attempts to answer just this question…
Read the rest of this entry »