Here's the uncomfortable truth about investing: nearly everything that moves your account balance day-to-day is completely outside your control. The Federal Reserve's next rate decision. Geopolitical flare-ups. Whether the market decides this quarter's earnings were good enough. Even the weather—droughts, hurricanes, freezes—can swing commodity prices and equity sectors in ways no amount of research will predict.
But here's what that dominance has done to the "market": the top five companies in the S&P 500 now represent 26% of its total value. The top ten account for nearly 36%. Think about that. When you buy an S&P 500 index fund believing you own "the market," you are placing an enormous concentrated bet on a handful of Silicon Valley giants. That's not diversification — that's a crowded trade with a diversification label slapped on it.
Using sophisticated strategies built into the tax code to save from paying unnecessary taxes is not only legal - it's patriotic!
I remember as a child watching a movie titled "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". What is indelibly imprinted on my memory is not the characters or story line but rather how I felt while watching - out of control. It was contention and confusion and chaos - OH MY!
Markets continue to move onward and upward despite the heavy burdens of uncertainty in financial markets due to the Russian/Ukraine war, Israel vs. Middle East neighbors, and tariff uncertainty. Magnificent Seven stocks, which include Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Tesla represent an astounding 35% of the S&P 500 – are largely responsible for gains in the index over the last 3 years.
It’s clear the traditional blueprint doesn’t offer the cushion it once did. That’s where thinking outside the box—and beyond the standard stocks and bonds portfolio—becomes more important.