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What’s on our mind? You can read about it in our blog. Whether it’s ideas from the industry or emerging trends, you can read about it here. And once in a while, we may throw in a movie review or some other surprise. So keep checking in. We’re glad to have you reading along.
Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. William R. Pintaric & Associates and Securities America are separate entities.
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Weekly Market Commentary for the Week of January 25, 2021
THE MARKETS Stocks were mixed Friday as COVID-19 concerns resurged and the future of President Biden’s proposed stimulus package remains uncertain. The S&P and the Dow closed lower while the NASDAQ pushed to a record high. For...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of January 20, 2021
The Markets U.S. stocks fell Friday following disappointing retail sales data and big bank earnings reports. Investors also feared President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious stimulus plan could result in tax hikes or higher interest...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of January 11, 2021
The Markets Stocks closed higher Friday, with the S&P at a record high, despite the Capitol riots and a negative jobs report. Investors appeared buoyed by President-elect Joe Biden’s comment that he would support an economic...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of January 4, 2021
The Markets U.S. stocks rose on the final trading day of a tumultuous year. Amid pandemic-related closures and a global recession, equities plunged into a bear market in February and March but quickly rebounded. The Dow and the S&P 500...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of December 28, 2020
The Markets All three major indices ended a shortened holiday week on an up note as investors digested surging virus cases, the ongoing vaccine rollout, uncertainty over the Georgia runoff, a fall in unemployment claims, and new...
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Weekly Market Impact Call With Phil Blancato
Hello, Each week, Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management CEO Phil Blancato shares his insights and perspective on recent market developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and provides guidance going forward. Please take a listen when...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of December 24, 2020
The Markets The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and NASDAQ fell Friday, after all three indices briefly reached records earlier in the day. Investors balanced prospects of a stimulus package, Tesla’s entrance into the S&P, an unexpected rise...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of December 14, 2020
The Market The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ ended Friday with modest declines despite the FDA’s emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older. Investors appeared cautious amid...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of November 30, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose on a shortened, post-Thanksgiving Friday as retailers kicked off the holiday shopping season and coronavirus cases rose. The S&P and NASDAQ closed at record highs Friday, and the Dow closed above 30,000 for the...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of November 16, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose Friday amid upbeat earnings reports and a surge in virus cases. Positive vaccine news helped the Dow and the S&P achieve strong weekly gains. On Monday, Pfizer reported its vaccine proved over 90 percent...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of November 9, 2020
The Markets Amid uncertainty surrounding the presidential election, U.S. stocks closed mostly flat Friday. But Wall Street saw its best weekly gains since April. For the week, the Dow rose 6.89 percent to close at 28,323.40. The S&P...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of November 2, 2020
The Markets Stocks fell sharply Friday, led by major tech shares. The S&P and the Dow saw their biggest weekly losses since the March sell-off. Rising coronavirus cases, stalled stimulus talks, and a looming presidential election...
Read MoreBallots, Bulls and Bears
Ballots, Bulls and Bears In no uncertain terms, what really affects the stock market is uncertainty—because it causes people to doubt existing business plans. Today, the pandemic and global economic downturn, combined with a...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of October 26, 2020
The Markets Stocks ended a downbeat week mixed as investors followed officials’ comments on the status of another stimulus bill. Although unemployment benefits provided by the CARES Act ended July 31, the White House and...
Read MoreThe necessity of luxury: What makes this industry so resilient?
The necessity of luxury: What makes this industry so resilient? The personal luxury segment probably doesn’t come to mind when one thinks of resilient areas of the equity market. The industry has unquestionably faced significant...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of October 19, 2020
The Markets Stocks were mixed on the final day of a volatile week. Encouraging reports on retail sales and consumer confidence lifted the major indices. The NASDAQ posted its fourth weekly gain. The S&P and Dow snapped three-day losing...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of October 12, 2020
The Markets U.S. stocks rose Friday amid renewed optimism over another stimulus package because of talks between House Democrats and the Trump administration. The S&P and NASDAQ had their best week since early July; the Dow had its...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of October 5, 2020
The Markets On Friday, the markets reacted negatively to the news that President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, adding more uncertainty to the upcoming election. The major indices recovered some of the day’s losses...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of September 28, 2020
The Markets It was a choppy week on Wall Street as investors weighed rising coronavirus cases, the upcoming presidential election, and uncertainty over another stimulus bill. Although stocks closed on a high note on Friday, the Dow and...
Read MoreHow elections move markets in 5 charts
How much do elections impact the stock market and portfolio returns? Should elections even matter to long-term investors in the first place? These are the questions investors and financial professionals are facing as we approach...
Read MoreWhy You Need a Financial Planner
Why You Need a Financial Planner
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of September 21, 2020
The Markets The major stock indices fell Friday, contributing to their third straight weekly loss. Investors demonstrated concern over uncertainty about an additional round of stimulus legislation, new tensions with China, and steep...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of September 14, 2020
THE MARKETS Stocks ended Friday’s volatile session mixed; the NASDAQ ended lower while the S&P and Dow Jones rose. The three major indices all posted steep losses for the week. The NASDAQ experienced its worst weekly decline...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary September 8, 2020
The Markets Despite August’s positive jobs report, stocks fell Friday, and the three major indices saw steep declines for the week. The S&P experienced its worst day in nearly three months. For the week, the Dow fell 1.73 percent...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of August 31, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose Friday. The Dow erased its losses for the year, and the NASDAQ and the S&P reached new record closes. July’s U.S. consumer spending encouraged investors, along with the Federal Reserve’s announced...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of August 24, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose Friday, and the NASDAQ and the S&P achieved record closing highs as several pieces of positive news encouraged investors. New reports showed better than expected corporate earnings reports, a surge in home sales...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of August 17, 2020
The Markets Stocks ended mostly flat on Friday, with the S&P still failing to achieve a record high. The market appeared to be treading water as investors reacted to modestly improving retail sales and stalled stimulus talks as the...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of August 10, 2020
The Markets Stocks were mixed Friday, thanks to a slightly better-than-expected July jobs report and gridlock between Democratic leaders and the White House over the next stimulus package. In other news, the Trump administration placed...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of August 3, 2020
The Markets Stocks closed Friday’s session and the month of July higher after trading lower earlier in the day. Uncertainty over the next stimulus package and falling consumer sentiment weighed on investors while strong quarterly...
Read MorePotential Pandemic Positives
Potential Pandemic Positives A crisis can leave us better or worse. As most of us long for things to return to the way they were before COVID-19, observers from various fields believe our lives may actually improve in some areas after...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of July, 28
The Markets Stocks fell Friday, ending a volatile week of trading and marking the first weekly decline in four weeks. Negative factors included rising concerns of another tech bubble, escalated China-U.S. tensions, worse-than-expected...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of July 20, 2020
The Markets Stocks were mixed Friday. Despite surging coronavirus cases, investors appeared relatively optimistic about potential vaccines for COVID-19 and a post-pandemic economic recovery. For the week, the Dow rose 2.32 percent to...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of July 13, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose Friday, and the NASDAQ reached a record high as investors weighed positive and negative headlines. U.S. coronavirus cases broke a record for a single day increase on Thursday while Gilead Sciences reported...
Read MoreGreetings from 2030: Growth investing for the next decade
Greetings from 2030: Growth investing for the next decade Companies, Anne-Marie Peterson observed early in her investing career, go through life cycle changes just like people do. Where individuals can experience childhood, college,...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of July 6, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose Thursday following an unexpectedly positive June jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 4.8 million from May’s 2.7 million, achieving the largest single-month increase in history. Encouraging news about...
Read MoreU.S. Midyear Outlook: From recession to recovery
U.S. Midyear Outlook: From recession to recovery The decade-long economic expansion did not end with a whimper. The coronavirus brought it to a screeching halt. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) fell 5% in the first quarter, and a...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of June 29, 2020
The Markets Stocks dropped sharply Friday as several states reversed some reopening plans after coronavirus cases rose. Bank stocks fell after the Federal Reserve limited dividend payments and barred share repurchases for the third...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of June 22, 2020
The Markets Stocks were up and down Friday as investors digested news of virus resurgences in pockets around the globe. At the close, the NASDAQ was up slightly, while the Dow and S&P were down. All three major indexes made gains for...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of June 15, 2020
The Markets It was a choppy week on Wall Street amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections as states reopen and crowded protests continue. Stocks saw their worst sell-off since March on Thursday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell...
Read MoreFed sees interest rates staying near zero through 2022, GDP bouncing to 5% next year
Fed sees interest rates staying near zero through 2022, GDP bouncing to 5% next year The Federal Reserve kept interest rates near zero and indicated that’s where they’ll stay as the economy recovers from the coronavirus...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of June 6, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose sharply Friday after the Labor Department reported the U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs in May and unemployment dropped to 13.3 percent – compared to an expected surge to 19.8 percent. Airline stocks...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of June 1, 2020
The Markets Stocks ended mostly higher on Friday after the White House said it would end special treatment of Hong Kong in light of China’s recent security crackdowns but did not indicate it would pull out of the Phase 1 trade...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of May 26, 2020
The Markets Stocks were mixed Friday as investors weighed rising trade tensions between China and the U.S. and uncertainty about the pace of an economic recovery from the coronavirus. Frictions rose after China announced new security...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of May 18, 2020
The Markets The market was volatile on Friday as investors digested a record drop in retail sales and increased trade tensions with China as the Trump administration imposed new restrictions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei. Stocks...
Read MoreSimple ways to save money on Groceries
When you are working on your weekly budgets, groceries can easily run a close second when it comes to big expenses. Especially, when you are shopping for a family. I want to talk to you about some simple ways you can save big when...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of May 11, 2020
The Markets Stocks rose Friday despite the worst jobs report on record; the Labor Department reported the nation lost 20.5 million jobs in April. However, investors were encouraged by plans to begin reopening the country and a...
Read MoreAlternatives to franchise coffee
A lot of people start off their mornings at their favorite coffee spots. However, over time this can add up quick. Let’s do the math, $4 a day on one latte comes out to $20 a week, and that is over $80 a month, and a total of $1...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of May 4, 2020
The Markets Even though the drug remdesivir received emergency use authorization for treating hospitalized coronavirus patients, stocks fell on the first day of May amid disappointing earnings reports and growing tensions between China...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of April 27, 2020
The Markets It was a choppy week on Wall Street as investors digested the ongoing oil crisis, manufacturing stress, staggering jobless claims, a new economic aid package and slowing coronavirus hospitalizations in New York and New...
Read MoreA Lesson in Liquidity
The COVID 19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown have exposed a number of weaknesses in some before-now solid financial situations. The headline on April 21, 2020 on Bloomburg.com reads: Richard Branson Doesn't Have a Drop to Drink...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of April 20, 2020
The Markets Despite massive unemployment reports, stocks rose sharply Friday amid discussions on reopening parts of the economy and hopes surrounding an experimental drug to treat COVID-19. Stocks were also up for the second week in a...
Read MoreHow CARES Act Affects Individuals
How CARES Act Affects Individuals President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law March 27. In addition to hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to businesses, healthcare and state and...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of April 13, 2020
The Markets Stocks closed higher on the final trading day before the holiday weekend. Investors appeared to dismiss jobless numbers and focus on the Federal Reserve’s announcement of new measures to provide $2.3 trillion in...
Read MoreExpect the Unexpected
Expect the Unexpected Do you have some financial responsibilities that would continue if you died? Well, life insurance can take care of that. Will you need a stream of income in the event you get hurt badly enough that you can’t...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of April 6, 2020
The Markets Stocks slid on the final day of another volatile week, amid dismal unemployment and a spike in coronavirus-related deaths in New York. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, reported over 100,000 cases and 2,900 deaths. For...
Read MoreGuide to recessions: When is the next U.S. recession and how should you prepare for it?
Preparing for the next recession: 9 things you need to know When is the next recession? That's one of the questions we hear most often, especially now that the coronavirus outbreak has caused unprecedented disruptions, sparking the...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of March 30, 2020
The Markets Following three days of big gains, stocks slid across the board Friday amid news of a sharp spike in confirmed coronavirus cases. Johns Hopkins University reported the U.S. had 85,000 confirmed cases – the highest...
Read MoreProblems with Panicking
Problems With Panicking If you’ve ventured out to a grocery store lately, you’ve undoubtedly seen empty shelves and bins. There’s only one reason to explain this in a nation that is the world’s largest food...
Read MoreI'm Still Standing
I’m Still Standing In 1983 Elton John released a song titled I’m Still Standing. With all of what is going on with the stocks markets these days, remember that song’s title is a valuable lesson. Virtually every year...
Read MoreThe Value of Time-Segmenting Your Investments
I am a big fan of Time-Segmenting your investments, and that is especially true when the stock market is behaving like it has the last few weeks. Time Segmentation of Investments is a fancy way of saying Buckets of Money. It means...
Read MoreOffice Hours Update
As our company responds to COVID-19, the health and safety of our employees and customers remains our top priority. Our office will remain open as we are an essential business. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to force drastic social...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of March 23, 2020
The Markets Despite the administration’s relief measures, stocks plunged to a three-year low Friday. Contributing factors included New York State’s stay-at-home order and a reversal in crude prices. The three major indexes...
Read MoreThe Coronavirus Contraction
The Coronavirus Contraction Securities offered through Securities America, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Securities America Advisors, Inc. William R. Pintaric & Associates and Securities America are...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of March 16, 2020
The Markets Stocks enjoyed their best day since 2008 and gained back a chunk of Thursday’s steep losses after President Trump declared a national emergency to combat the coronavirus. Although the indexes spiked over 9 percent on...
Read MoreCapital CEO Tim Armour on weathering the coronavirus
Capital CEO Tim Armour on weathering the coronavirus Rising fears over the continued spread of the coronavirus have led to a sharp stock market decline as investors grapple with its impact on the global economy. On Monday, March 9, in...
Read MoreCorrection or bear? 6 charts that explain market declines
Correction or bear? 6 charts that explain market declines The market turmoil that began in early 2018 intensified later in the year, as the S&P 500 Composite Index declined nearly 20% between its September peak and late December. This...
Read MoreFinancial Planning Makes Things Better
Financial Planning Makes Things Better In another discussion I talked about budgeting and how following a monthly budget allows you the freedom to enjoy the money you can spend “foolishly” with no guilt. The truth is,...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of March 9, 2020
The Markets The U.S. added 273,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.5 percent. But despite the strong employment news, stocks fell Friday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases topped 100,000. Still, at...
Read MoreCoronavirus: Our economists weigh in on the U.S., China and Europe
Coronavirus: Our economists weigh in on the U.S., China and Europe The spread of the coronavirus outside of China to a broader swath of countries in Asia and Europe is fueling a broad re-examination of 2020 global economic growth...
Read MoreWhy You Need a Financial Planner
Why You Need a Financial Planner Let’s face it, we all have our strong points, our talents. Some people are good at certain things, others are good at others. Just because someone is good at one thing and another person...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of March 3, 2020
The Markets Stocks plunged Friday and closed the worst week since the financial crisis amid growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus. The World Health Organization issued a warning that global level risks were growing as...
Read MoreWhat does a Financial Planner do?
What does a Financial Planner do? A Financial Planner helps you put your financial life in order. He or she does this in the following ways: by helping you organize things, identify financial goals, determine if those goals are...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of February 24, 2020
The Markets The three major indexes dropped on Friday and also ended the week lower. Concern over the economic impact of the coronavirus and data indicating U.S. business activity slowed last month led investors to move to safe haven...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of February 18, 2020
The Markets At Friday’s close, stocks were mixed. A rising number of coronavirus cases weighed on investors; a report the White House is considering tax incentives to encourage stock purchases encouraged them. Stocks still posted...
Read MoreWeekly Market Commentary for the week of February 10, 2020
The Markets Despite January’s stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report, stocks fell Friday amid concern over the impact the coronavirus will have on China’s economy. However, stocks still notched strong weekly gains. For the...
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