Investment Committee
Election Note: November 6, 2024
After a long campaign season, with key policy points discussed ad nauseum, the following serves as a status update of several more...
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Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Nov 3
Election Commentary: 5 Things to know about the election and your money
During election seasons it is easy to become short-sighted. Anxiety, fatigue and overwhelm all seem to be common emotions
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Aug 5
Stock Market Note: August 5, 2024
Market selloffs have sometimes started with simple narratives, particularly when one previously-believed story evolves into another.
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Jan 31
Fed Note: January 31, 2024
At their late January meeting, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee kept the Fed funds range unchanged at 5.25-5.50%, where it’s...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Jan 20
2024 Market Outlook Summary
Will 2024 give us the soft landing in the economy that we’ve all been hoping for? While this seems possible there are, as always, risks...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Dec 13, 2023
Fed Note: December 13, 2023
At the December meeting, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee held the Fed funds rate steady at 5.25-5.50%, where it’s stood since...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Apr 15, 2023
Cash Safety Memo
The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank left many questioning the safety of their bank deposits and what they can do to protect themselves...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Mar 23, 2023
Fed Note: March 22, 2023
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee unanimously raised the fed funds rate today by 0.25% to a range of 4.75-5.00%. Starting from...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Mar 13, 2023
Market Note: March 13, 2023
Declines in the stock market and a deterioration in sentiment in recent days were partially due to sharp banking sector declines this...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Jan 14, 2023
What happened in 2022 (and what to expect now!) - A Financial Markets Summary
It was a challenging year in many ways with inflation spiking up to levels not seen in many decades, a new war in Europe that shows no...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Nov 3, 2022
Fed Note: November 2, 2022
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee raised the fed funds rate today by another 0.75%, from 3.00-3.25% to 3.75-4.00%. The vote was...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Sep 22, 2022
Fed Note: September 21, 2022
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee raised the fed funds rate today by another 0.75%, to a range of 3.00-3.25%. The vote was...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Sep 13, 2022
Market Note: September 13th, 2022
Despite early hopes for a positive day as measured by S&P futures pre-market trading, the mood was soon dashed as markets declined...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Jul 14, 2022
Making Sense of the First Half of 2022
“Real optimists don’t believe that everything will be great. That’s complacency. Optimism is a belief that the odds of a good outcome are...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
May 6, 2022
Book Notes: The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
One of the books that I read recently was particularly helpful when it comes to approaching financial decisions. The book is The...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
May 5, 2022
Q2 2022 Market and Economic Outlook Video
We put out a market and economic outlook video every quarter. This is general information that provides our latest thoughts
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Mar 19, 2022
Are We Headed for Stagflation?
Stagflation is the combination of high inflation and a slowing economy. Lately, the question above has come up more often and there has...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Feb 24, 2022
Market Note: Russia/Ukraine
A variety of conflicts involving major world powers have tended to historically raise short-term volatility in global financial assets.
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Dec 2, 2021
Are We Re-opened? A Business Cycle Update
As we close out 2021 and move further away from the 2020 recession, many of us are still wondering when things will get back to “normal.”...
Jeran Van Alfen, CFP®
Nov 13, 2021
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