New Year, Auld To-Do Items
As clocks chimed midnight and the sounds of champagne corks, kazoos and the familiar Auld Lang Syne resonated amid hugs with family and friends, the calendar officially turned the page to 2025. This timeless celebration allows us to recall fondly the memories, friends and experiences of the previous year and embrace the new year with an open heart, new beginnings and infinite possibilities. Dreadfully, it was not long into the new year before the celebration turned to sorrow in New Orleans. [...]
Market Update: December, 23, 2024
Welcome to the Monthly Market Update from Signature Wealth Management. I’m Brian Ransom, Research Director from Signature Wealth and here’s what happened in the market this month. To end the year, the market had a strong rally following the results from the presidential election. But we have run into a bout of volatility in the middle of December. Causing the spike in volatility was a clear change in language and direction from the Federal Reserve that caused a sharp [...]
Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later
As we live in a free country, sometimes, Uncle Sam gives us a choice. When it comes to the taxation of retirement accounts, he takes the stance – “Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later”. Back in 1972, Fram Oil Filters used this slogan in a commercial. They claimed someone could pay the premium price for a Fram Oil Filter now, or, pay a mechanic later to fix all the problems caused by using a different oil filter. They eluded that [...]
Don’t Get Spoofed by Pig Butchering
In this article, we would like to address a topic other than investments and the markets. Recently, there has been a new scam in social media that takes advantage of individuals looking for investment advice. The scammer will impersonate a well-known individual in the investment community: Tom Lee, Josh Brown, Cathie Wood, and many others, luring people into WhatsApp groups via targeted advertising. Because it’s a sponsored advertisement, the post can look legitimate. The FBI calls it "spoofing". But the internet [...]
Fed Pivot
So, we just saw the first rate cut since the Fed took an aggressive approach to taming inflation in the spring of 2022. What was it that the Federal Reserve saw that gave them confidence in shifting their approach? Well, if we look where inflation has come down from in the last few years via truflation.com, we have come a long way. The US inflation index now sits at 1.52%, down from 11.5% at the peak of the recent crisis. [...]
The SWMG Opinion on the Election
We have none. Ah yes, another election year full of divisive, negative, and persuasive rhetoric from folks on both sides of the aisle. We all recognize the importance of such a year and the ability to have a vote in electing our leaders, but we cannot help feeling some level of dread and outright exhaustion as the process plays itself out. I (Ian) am sorry to disappoint you if you were hoping to discover Jim’s, Scott’s, Curt’s, or any of the [...]
Southern Company Update, 2nd Quarter 2024
Utility investing is typically a straight forward prospect with very little surprises, good or bad. This is why utilities are commonly considered “safe haven investments” by academics and investors when the economy turns South. Revenue and earnings growth are generally predictable and the dividend is generally predictable as a result which typically results in lower stock volatility when economic growth is waning. Artificial Intelligence seems to have changed that narrative, however. Because AI requires extensive computing power, data center demand for [...]
Protecting Seniors from Fraudsters by Brian Walker, Chief Compliance Officer
“How criminals are exploiting personal information to target vulnerable seniors in elder fraud.” In 2023, people over 60 lost a whopping $3.4 billion to scams, a 10.6% increase from 2022, according to the FBI's IC3 reports.[i] Unfortunately, headlines similar to the one above are all too common nowadays. Anyone can be a target of professional fraudsters but seniors are more vulnerable than any other group. According to a recent article from the National Council on Aging[ii] the latest scams targeting seniors [...]
“Short Attention Span Theater”
The title of this newsletter refers to a comedy show which appeared on HBO, Cinemax, or Comedy Central (which are the only venues it could have reached me (Jim) as I’m too cheap to pay for premium TV content not related to sports or home improvement shows!) from 1989 to 1994. For a while, it featured comedian Jon Stewart as host and the show consisted of brief clips from comics and (go figure!) upcoming HBO and Cinemax specials. Admittedly, the title [...]