Market Insights
Investments: Looking Ahead to 2026 The year 2025 proved to be volatile but ultimately very favorable for investors. After declining nearly 20% in early April amid escalating concerns around tariffs, the S&P 500 rallied sharply and finished the year up more than 16%. Bonds and commodities also delivered strong performance, with gold posting a banner […]
Market Insights
Investments: Rate Cuts Part 3 Rate cuts once again dominated market headlines last week, as the Federal Reserve under Chair Jerome Powell elected to cut rates for a third consecutive meeting. The path to this decision, however, was more complicated than in previous months. Coming on the heels of the longest government shutdown in U.S. […]
Market Insights
Investments: Fed Front & Center Again Once again, the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell sit center stage this holiday season as investors weigh the prospect of a rate cut at the December 9–10 FOMC meeting. Unlike the last two meetings, a cut is not guaranteed. Market expectations have swung sharply, moving from nearly 100% […]
Market Insights
Investments: Shutdown Concludes Late last Wednesday night, President Trump signed the bill that ended the 43-day government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. The turning point came earlier in the week when a group of centrist Democrats chose to break away and negotiate with Republicans to bring the shutdown to a close. With the shutdown […]
Market Insights
Investments: Rate Cut, Now What? Last Wednesday, during the October FOMC meeting, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced another quarter-point interest rate cut, the second in a row for the Fed. However, in his address, Powell added that a December cut was “not a foregone conclusion” and is “far from” being set in stone, comments […]
Market Insights
Investments: AI Bubble? As stocks continue to climb from their April lows, hype around AI has continued to swell. Leading AI companies such as NVDA, AMD, and privately held OpenAI have displayed eye-popping growth since the April pullback and continue to hit new highs as we move through mid-October. With the rapid surge of AI […]
Market Insights
Investments: Government Shutdown As of last Tuesday at midnight, the U.S. government entered its first shutdown since December 2018. During a shutdown, all ‘nonessential’ federal employees are furloughed without pay until funding is restored, while ‘essential workers’ such as military personnel, TSA, and border patrol continue working but often do not receive paychecks until the […]
Market Insights
Investments: Rate Cuts After much anticipation, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates last Wednesday by 0.25% and projected that two more cuts could come later this year. Chairman Jerome Powell cited a weakening labor market—partly due to the sudden halt in immigration—as justification for the move. This cut comes after a period of strong market […]
Market Insights
Investments: Fed Watch All eyes are currently on the Federal Reserve. As of early September, the market has priced in a 95% probability of a 0.25% rate cut at the Fed meeting next week. The Trump administration has pushed Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to lower rates for some time now, and recent cracks in the […]
What is Values-Based Investing or VBI?
Traditional investing asks, “How can I get the most profit from my investments?” Values-Based Investing, or VBI, adds to this question by also asking, “How can I make the world a better place?” Of course, “making the world a better place” looks different to all of us. Personal values can center on many different areas […]