Investors Get Lost Searching for Pokemon Returns

Pokemon Go has been downloaded by millions in the U.S. and every day the number of users continues to rise as it is released across the globe. For those that don’t know, the hit app sends you on a quest for “Pokemon” in your neighborhood, down streets you always knew existed but never had a reason to walk down, searching for elusive fictional creatures.  The app has been criticized for distracting its users and potentially putting them in harm’s way, but it has also been praised as revolutionary and innovative, bringing gaming to a new level of reality. The excitement and lure of the game were almost as hard to ignore as what happened to Nintendo’s stock price since the game’s release. The struggling tech company saw an unprecedented increase that hit a 52 week high on Monday July 18th; shares more than doubled to $38.25 from a 52 week low...

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Don’t Time the Market -Listen to Cicadas Instead!

Peter Lynch, the famous and very successful mutual fund manager, is quoted as saying “Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections or trying to anticipate corrections than has been lost in the corrections themselves.” Recent market events have provided us with yet another example of why trying to “time” the investment markets just doesn’t work.  At the close of business on June 23, 2016, the night before the Brexit vote results were released, the S&P 500 was up 4.52% for the year.  Most investors probably went to bed that night confident that leaving their money in the markets was the right thing to do since the polls were leaning toward the U.K. remaining in the European Union.  As we know now, the vote went in the opposite direction and Brexit heavily impacted the U.S. markets in the morning, sinking the S&P 500 by 3.76% almost instantly. A market-timing...

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Lower gas prices give Americans $200 billion in additional spending power

World stock markets have been plummeting over the last year due to worries about global economic contraction. One of the big drivers has been a dramatic drop in the price of oil, from over $100 a barrel two years ago to well under $30 a barrel today. The sharp decline has played havoc with the domestic fossil fuel industry, caused the loss of lots of high paying jobs in the U.S. oil patch, and hurt earnings of companies from giant Exxon to small independent drillers. Stock prices recently have followed the daily declines in oil prices. I began to hear the argument last year that the drop in oil prices will have a good effect on American consumers. I was skeptical. I reasoned that the loss of high-paying jobs more than offset the extra few hundred dollars left in each American driver’s pocket. Count me as a believer today. Retail gasoline prices...

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