Main Street Over Wall Street?

Main Street Over Wall Street?

The current economic expansion has been punctuated by record profits for large corporations, and slow job and wage growth for U.S. consumers.

Ferguson Wellman Article in Portland Business Journal

Ferguson Wellman Article in Portland Business Journal

Matt Kish, banking and finance reporter for Portland Business Journal, spent some time with us in recent weeks to learn more about our fourth ownership transition process that began the end of 2017. We also had the opportunity to share with Matt that Ralph Cole, CFA, joined our board of directors this year. On June 30, Mark Kralj became director emeritus and we are delighted that he will continue to be involved with our firm for the next year until his retirement.

Shake-Ups

Shake-Ups

News broke this week that the Trump administration would consider bypassing congressional legislation to change the capital gains taxes rules to index for inflation. The current strategy that is being floated is to use the Treasury department and IRS rather than traditional legislation to redefine capital gains to include only returns in excess of inflation.

What Matters for Stocks

What Matters for Stocks

If you break the stock market down into its most basic elements only two things matter: earnings of companies and what investors are willing to pay for a dollar of earnings. This week, earnings season for the second quarter of 2018 was in full swing and investors are digesting the news.

Shifting into Gear

Shifting into Gear

Markets were inundated with a barrage of political, economic and stock-specific news this week, challenging investors to stay on top of it all.

Path to Productivity

Path to Productivity

Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law on December 22, 2017, pundits and economists have continued to debate if companies would increase their capital expenditures due to the 100-percent-expensing provision in the new tax code.

2018 Q3 Market Letter

2018 Q3 Market Letter

2018 Market Letter Q3

Good News on the Jobs Front

Good News on the Jobs Front

Expectations and events often explain market movement. With earnings season underway next week, every earnings report will be judged on whether those expectations were exceeded, met or missed. Perhaps the most important aspect is if future growth outlook meets expectations.

Stressed Out

Stressed Out

Over the last month, financials and industrials have been the two worst performing sectors in the S&P 500. While the industrials sector can be explained due to the strengthening U.S. dollar and trade rhetoric, financials have been more perplexing.

Short Stories

Short Stories

Trade concerns weighed on stocks this week resulting in a 1 percent decline for the S&P 500, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling close to 2 percent. Large-cap industrial stocks have taken the brunt of the pain due to their exposure to export markets, as well as increasing steel and aluminum costs due to recent tariffs.

Cole Joins Ferguson Wellman’s Board of Directors

Cole Joins Ferguson Wellman’s Board of Directors

Ralph Cole, CFA, is Ferguson Wellman’s new director. He joins the current board that includes Dean Dordevic, Steve Holwerda, CFA, George Hosfield, CFA and Jim Rudd.

Action and Reaction

Action and Reaction

With just a couple of weeks left to go in the second quarter, investors wanting for a lack of earnings news found plenty of economic reports and central bank meetings to freshen up their views of the macroeconomy.

Resources Worth Routing: The GDPR Effect on Your Inbox

Resources Worth Routing: The GDPR Effect on Your Inbox

GDPR became law in the European Union on May 25.

Winning in Later Innings

Winning in Later Innings

In recent weeks, investors and economists alike have been questioning the sustainability of the current backdrop of strong global growth and are considering the longevity of the current expansion. No doubt, economic data out of Europe has been weak and some U.S. data has moderated from very strong levels.

Quitaly

Quitaly

News of political uncertainty in Italy, trade disputes and a strong employment number for May injected volatility into the U.S. stock market, with the S&P 500 ending up .43 percent for the week and U.S. Treasury bond prices moving higher, with the yield on the 10-year bond ending the week at 2.89 percent.

A New Face

A New Face

The markets had to digest weighty geopolitical headlines this week with tariffs, North Korea and a messy political landscape in the European Union dominating the news cycle.

More Bang for Your Buck

More Bang for Your Buck

In our annual economic Investment Outlook, we predicted that interest rates would rise but not enough to derail the expansion. At the same time, we anticipated that the conflicting signals of robust earnings growth and above-average valuation would settle somewhere in the middle.

The Hardest Thing to Understand, According to Einstein

The Hardest Thing to Understand, According to Einstein

According to Einstein, what’s the hardest thing to understand in the world? Josh Frankel, CFP, helps find relativity between taxpayers and wealth planning, particularly charitable-giving strategies.

Texas Tea

Texas Tea

One of the four takeaways in our 2018 Outlook was, “It’s the Economy,” meaning that over the long term, financial markets tend to do a good job shrugging off headline risk and political drama. Instead, markets focus on the health of the economy. This attribute was once again demonstrated this week with equity markets gaining more than 2 percent despite heightened geopolitical tension as the U.S. formally exited the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.