Rewirement Tips: Qualified Charitable Distributions

According to the latest figures from the Federal Reserve, nearly 45 million Americans have outstanding student loans with an average loan balance of $37,333. Total student loan borrowings now top $1.68 trillion, up nearly 30 percent from five years ago and more than 100 percent higher than ten years ago.

Anybody who has recently picked up a newspaper now knows that the U.S. economy ended a 10- year period when, through that period of time, it continually grew. It is good to know that the Federal Reserve is actively pursuing steps that can be used to bolster the economy. It is a bitter irony that in order to deal effectively with the coronavirus, U.S. policymakers have…

Technology use during meetings went from being (arguably) optional to necessary in a matter of weeks for many communities, including financial advisors. As if learning new technology wasn’t tricky enough, may advisors have found themselves managing virtual client relationships with regularity for the first time.

Entering its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, it is caught between activists demanding that the firm walk the talk and conservatives condemning the emphasis on politics over profits— as well as crying hypocrisy over BlackRock’s enormous holdings in China, the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter.

Financially stressed workers may be tempted to withdraw funds from the 401(k) accounts. But employees should explore all alternatives prior to withdrawing from their 401(k) whether it’s during this pandemic or anytime.

Stocks took a sharp market downturn last week, leaving investors to wonder why. Stocks may have been due for a pullback after gains in late March through April and could potentially have further to fall.

Facing the gravest U.S. economic crisis in decades, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered Congress contrasting views Tuesday of what the government’s most urgent priority should be.

The stock market bounced back from its worst week in nearly two months Monday as optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus and hopes for a U.S. economic recovery in the second half of the year put investors in a buying mood.

The S&P 500 gained 12.82 percent during April, marking the best single month for the index since 1987. While this swift rebound was quite welcome for investors, very real risks to markets still remain—and there are several key factors that matter when determining the overall risk level.

Asian stock markets rose Monday after the chief U.S. central banker expressed optimism the the American economy might start to recover this year from the coronavirus pandemic. That came despite Japan’s announcement that its economy contracted in the first quarter.

When discussing the complexities of current markets with your clients, make sure you don’t .fall victim to the “curse of explaining.” Clients should always leave a meeting more informed than when they arrived, but this doesn’t mean you need to expound upon every background detail

What will be the shape of the future: V, W, U, L, or a swoosh? This is shorthand for the direction of the economic recovery. According to The Wall Street Journal, “Named after the Nike logo, it predicts a large drop followed by a painfully slow recovery, with many Western economies, including the U.S. and Europe, not back to 2019 levels of output until late next year.”

Wall Street rallied back from a sharp morning drop on Thursday, led by a resurgence for some of the year’s most beaten-down stocks. It’s the latest wobble for Wall Street, which has been wavering for weeks as it digests gargantuan moves the market made earlier this year.

Stocks are continuing to fall on Wall Street Thursday, part of another worldwide downdraft, as investors rethink earlier hopes for a relatively quick economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500 was down 1.1% after the first hour of trading, following similar losses in Asia and even sharper drops in Europe.

A pair of companies allegedly tried to scam the public by claiming to offer products to combat the COVID-19 virus, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today. The companies are based in New York and Florida, two states hard hit by the virus.

The economic paralysis caused by the coronavirus led in April to the steepest month-to-month fall in U.S. consumer prices since the 2008 financial crisis— a 0.8% drop that was driven by a plunge in gasoline prices. The business shutdowns, reduced travel and shrunken consumer spending are all attributable to the coronavirus.

In April, the S&P 500 Index had a historic rally off the March 23 lows, gaining more than 31% through April 29. The strength of the move, as well as internal data, suggests that a full retest of the March 23 lows may not be in the cards.

Wall Street was split on Monday, as continued gains for technology and health care stocks helped cover up for more prevalent losses elsewhere. The S&P 500 ended the day at a virtual standstill, up just 0.39 points at 2,930.19, despite a lot of movement going on underneath. It rallied back from an earlier loss of 0.9% in the morning.

Join Jamie Hopkins, Director of Carson Coaching, as he returns with new installments of his exclusive, video series, Rewirement Tips. In this week’s tip, Hopkins focuses on the SECURE Act and how it will change IRA rules under certain situations.

Publicly traded companies operating in the cannabis or cannabidiol sector are being targeted by disgruntled investors with increasing litigation. Goodwin Proctor, a Boston-based law firm, recently analyzed the marijuana industry and found securities class action litigation cases more than doubled in 2019.

Investor optimism is gaining as China and some other countries begin to revive their economies. But with infection numbers still rising in the United States, Brazil and some other countries, analysts warn a global recovery might be some way off.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly employment report this morning, revealing that the domestic economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April. This is by far the largest contraction in the history of the data series, which goes back to 1939.

The Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate cuts, taking short-term rates back near 0%, will support the economic rebound as the impact of the virus containment efforts eventually fade.

April was the month that stock markets rallied after an unprecedented drawdown. U.S. markets were up by double digits, international markets gained, and fixed income markets came back as well. What does May hold in store?

Comments by President Donald Trump on trade with China and casting blame on Beijing for the coronavirus pandemic have further dampened sentiment. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.2% in morning trading to 19,659.20, reopening after Golden Week holidays, and South Korea’s Kospi added 0.1% to 1,930.90.

All around the country, firms and employees are taking things to the next level to provide value that doesn’t have anything to do with financial recommendations. Here is a list of the top five activities that firms are participating in to support their clients and their communities.

Stimulus checks have started arriving and that means it’s time to make decisions about how to best use them. For many people– especially the more than 26 million people who have filed for unemployment benefits over the last five weeks– there’s little to no choice. Much of that money likely will be spent on necessities.

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets followed Wall Street higher while Sydney declined. Investors are increasingly optimistic as European countries and some U.S. states allow businesses to reopen despite warnings coronavirus infections still are rising in areas such as Brazil.

The S&P 500 rose 1.8% in early afternoon trading following similar gains in Paris, London and Hong Kong. In California, some retail businesses could begin serving customers again as early as Friday, under some restrictions.

While it’ s most definitely wild, Wall Street is also a collection of investors who are continually looking ahead, setting prices for stocks at the moment based on where they expect corporate profits and the economy will be a quarter or two into the future.

As reports of the virus were making the rounds, the International Monetary Fund forecast global GDP to be at 3.3% and at 2% in the U.S. Compare those seemingly rosy numbers with today’s reality: Recently, the IMF predicted that the pandemic-induced global recession would be the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett doesn’t know how or when the economy will recover from the coronavirus outbreak shutdown, but he remains optimistic in the long-term future of the United States. Buffett said Saturday at Berkshire Hathaway’s online annual meeting that there’s no way to predict the economic future right now.

This week, the news has generally been good. The virus continues to come under control, with the growth rate slowing (although the case count has not declined as much). Some states are reopening their economies, which will give us valuable data and should help with employment.

The S&P 500 fell 0.9% after reports showed millions more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week and the European economy crumpled to its worst performance on record last quarter, among other lowlights. It was the biggest loss for the U.S. stock market in more than a week.

Many clients may be feeling uncertain or panicked about their financial future. Communicating with them through social media and other online tools can provide reassurance and a source of stability.

One of the best known investment axioms is to “sell in May and go away.” This is largely because these six months have historically been some of the worst six months of the year. What will May 2020 bring?

Devastated by the coronavirus, the U.S. economy is sinking. The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate in the January-March quarter, the government estimated Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country.

The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record. The Commerce Department says the gross domestic product posted a quarterly drop for the first time in six years.

With the U.S. economy gripped by its worst crisis since the 1930 s, Federal Reserve policymakers are expected to offer sweeping assurances Wednesday that they will act as needed to help prevent the damage from growing even worse.

Negative oil prices have dominated headlines recently. A combination of oversupply, lack of demand, and a lack of storage capacity resulted in temporarily negative oil prices, where holders of a futures contract were paying others to take delivery of oil for them.

More than half of U.S. employees are most concerned with their financial health in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, MetLife’ s 18 th annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study found.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost earlier gains, inching down less than 0.1% to finish at 19,771.19. Worries remain about fresh surges of coronavirus cases in places like China and South Korea, where they had declined as a result of social distancing, testing and arduous efforts by medical workers.