There's an old saying on Wall Street that stocks “climb a wall of worry.” I've written about it here before — more than once — and in my 32nd year as an investment advisor I've watched markets climb some impressive walls: the Asian Financial Crisis, the dot-com bust, 9/11, the Great Recession, a global pandemic. But I'll be honest with you… the wall in front of us right now may be the best evidence of that old saying I've seen in my entire career.
The past twelve months have been the busiest since I founded the firm in 2010. In that time I have been deliberate about how the firm grows, and even more deliberate about who I would trust with the families we serve. So, I am excited to announce that I have brought on Clayton Johnson, another wealth advisor, to help take this firm to the next level.
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!