The stock market closed out 2019 with an impressive rally, marking a dramatic shift from what we experienced at the end of 2018. The S&P 500 Index posted a return of 9.1% in the fourth quarter, bringing its return for the year to 31.5%. Recall that in the closing months of 2018, the S&P 500 index lost about 20% of its value as investors were nervous about trade tensions.

The couple and conspirators promised to produce mobile solar generators, lease them back to their own company and then lease the generators to third parties. Instead, court documents say, they took the money and did not produce the generators.

One of the potential disruptors of the generally positive economic news surfaced in the form of a viral outbreak in China last week. Known as the coronavirus, as of this morning, there were nearly 2,800 cases in mainland China (mostly in the Wuhan area) and 80 deaths, for a mortality rate of about 3 percent.

Over the past month, the market pundits have been proffering their 2020 forecasts for stocks, bonds, interest rates, real estate, gold, oil and basically anything investors might buy or sell. Let’s take a look at how accurate their 2019 forecasts were.

The first mistake many people make is they do not save enough. There have been studies saying the average 401(k) balance is only $83,000. Using the 4% rule, that would provide a 65-year-old retiree with about $275 per month.

Having a CRM will help keep your business running smoother and more successfully, all while saving you and your clients time and money. The author explains all the ways a good CRM makes the advisor’s life a lot easier to manage and be successful.

There are two vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. President Donald Trump has nominated monetary policy experts Judy Shelton and Christopher Waller to fill them, subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. There has been no FOMC meeting in which more than one governor dissented since 1993.

The European Central Bank said Thursday it will maintain its historically low interest rate structure, including its main deposit rate of -0.5 percent, until it sees higher inflation levels. Citing persistently low inflation it sees as damaging to the Eurozone economy, the ECB also retained its current marginal lending facility rate of 0.25 percent.

A new Greenspring Advisors’ survey finds that 45% of people experience “regular financial stress which affects their satisfaction, engagement, productivity and alignment,” an executive said.

Two men took $4.85 million in investor money and spent it on luxury cars, yachts and a movie company, instead of ownership in a cannabis company, according to the SEC.

Some finance pros are suggesting that clients consider protecting some of the gains they earned during the market surge of the past year by moving them into a safer product – an insurance product.

The financial services industry is the least trusted of 15 sectors, according to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer. And only 18% of respondents believe that the system is working for them. It all amounts to an anxious public.

Fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off last week with 24 S&P 500 Index companies reporting fourth quarter results. The market’s reception to the first batch of results was mostly positive, particularly for several of the big banks.

Anexinet is expanding eMoney’s production environment across an HPE Synergy platform. Broadening the hybrid IT architecture enabled eMoney to rapidly deploy its financial application to customers while adding new cloud capabilities for specific time-to-market requirements.

Banks led a slide in U.S. stocks Tuesday as a virus outbreak in China rattled global markets, prompting investors to shift assets into bonds and defensive sector companies. The selling in U.S. stocks followed losses in Asian and European markets as investors worried about the new coronavirus spreading through China.

President Donald Trump touted his administration’s economic achievements in a speech Tuesday at the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, saying the United States “is winning” like never before.

U.S. stocks were mixed Tuesday in the first trading day of a holiday-shortened week, following up on losses around the world as worries deepened about a virus outbreak in China. Six people have died, and 291 have been infected in China, just as people in the country were preparing to make billions of trips for the Lunar New Year travel season.

The SECURE Act impacts nearly all retirement savers, and some of the many details are more important than others. Here is an overview of the most significant changes as the SECURE Act starts rolling out in 2020.

In the United States, recent interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve may lend some support to economic activity. However, given persistent policy uncertainty, weak business confidence and waning fiscal stimulus, GDP growth in the United States is forecast to slow from 2.2% in 2019 to 1.7% in 2020.

Investors are demanding more impact accountability of companies and investment managers. ESG funds are pulling in an exponentially greater number of dollars, but the Securities and Exchange Commission is asking questions.

In this week’s Rewirement Tip, Jamie Hopkins discusses the strategy behind Roth IRA conversions. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act puts Roth conversions high on the to-do list to take advantage of lower rates, Hopkins explains.

Less than six months ago, people found themselves reading about something called an inverted yield curve and its record for signaling economic downturns. The trade war with China showed no signs of abating. And the United Kingdom appeared on track for an abrupt exit from the European Union.

It’s part of what the Associated Press reports is a 10-year run during which the S&P 500 returned more than 13% annually. “It has been a very, very good market in 2019,” Bill Rice, a financial adviser with Laurel Highlands Financial Services in Somerset, said. Social Security benefits, medical insurance and other sources of expense and income should be considered.

Most advisors might be thinking they want to sell but only a few have actually planned how to do it, says Chip Roame of Tiburon. The succession process has six elements to consider.

Mother Jones, a liberal news website, reports that it has copies of internal memorandums circulated by Barclays, a powerful London-based bank and financial services firm. In one such memo, the bank warns that a Warren presidency “would directly impact corporate earnings.”

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he intends to nominate two people to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, an institution he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting rates deeply enough.

Very few Wall Street experts predicted that 2019 would be such a strong year for stocks and bonds. The U.S. economy continued to perform well, led by consumer spending, a strong housing market, historically low unemployment, and the Federal Reserve reducing interest rates.

While the majority of Americans age 40 and over claim to have a well-defined retirement strategy, almost the same number would give themselves a‘ C’ grade or lower on their retirement savings, according to a new survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of TD Ameritrade.

A survey by the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) finds that millennials’ expectations are not well aligned with the retirement planning steps they have taken thus far. Although nearly eight in ten millennials say that they have saved some money for retirement, nearly half – 46 percent – have saved less than $10,000.

Several stocks moved heavily or traded substantially over the past 24 hours. They include several big names, such as UnitedHealth and Target.

Advisors want to have the freedom and flexibility to provide the best possible client experience as true fiduciaries and differentiate themselves in order to compete for more wallet share. With overall wealth increasing in the U.S., there will be continued demand for the services that independent advisors deliver.

The CFB board reported significant gains in female, African American and Latino certificants. “CFP Board’s focused effort to improve diversity in the profession is having an impact,” said Kevin Keller, CAE and CFP Board chief executive officer.

The National Financial Educators Council conducted a survey with a single question: “When you have a financial question, who do you turn to for trusted financial guidance?” The most popular answer to the question depended on the age of the respondent.

Two clients’ true stories during the last bear market reveal the pitfalls and opportunities that come with investing in uncertain times. Do you see your clients in this tale?

Wells Fargo’s new CEO, Charles Scharf, has one of the hardest jobs in banking. After three months in the position, Scharf made his debut before Wall Street analysts Tuesday to report another disappointing quarter for the bank. For all of 2019, profits fell to $20 billion, compared with $22- billion in 2018.

For the Lilly Endowment, a good year means it’s time to cash in. The Indianapolis- based endowment, one of the nation’s largest charitable foundations, is unloading hundreds of millions of dollars of stock in its namesake company, drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co., continuing a sell-off strategy it began more than a decade ago.

With nearly $7 trillion under management, BlackRock is the largest firm in the business. The move to fundamentally shift its investing policy could reshape how corporate America does business.

By the end of 2019, the venture industry deployed $136.5 billion in US-based companies, surpassing the $130 billion mark for the second consecutive year, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.

A new survey of CEOs by GLG shows that chief executives enter 2020 bullish about their companies’ futures and broadly optimistic about the global economy overall. 80% are confident that their company’s revenue will grow in the next 12 months and 51% think global growth will increase, while less than a quarter believe the U.S. will enter a recession in 2020.

As a business owner, you are always thinking of what you need to do now. But you can’t forget about the future yours and that of your business. In 2020, you can defer up to $19,500 of income, or $26,000 if you are 50 or older.

Let’s face it: 2019 is going to be a hard year to beat – stocks and 401 plans up more than 25% on average, wage gains of 3% to 5%, 7 million surplus jobs and the lowest unemployment and inflation rates in nearly 50 years.

The annuities debate is among the most intense and divisive in the financial services industry but the truth is much less flashy than the hardliners like to imply: as with most investment and insurance options, annuities can be a helpful tool for some, but are not a good fit for everyone.

—Global shares mostly rose Friday as worried receded that the United States and Iran might be stepping closer to the edge of war. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed, down less than 0.1% at 7,593.34. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.1% at 28,969. S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% at 3,280.70.

—Stocks around the world climbed on Thursday, and the S&P 500 was heading for a record as markets continued their rally on relief that the United States and Iran appear to be stepping away from the edge of war. Diminishing worries about a U.S.- Iran war put more of the market’ s focus on the economy, corporate profits and other inputs that directly affect stock prices.

Regarding the movement of equity prices, we associate with the words of Alan “Ace” Greenberg, the head of Bear Stearns during the 1987 market crash: “Stocks fluctuate, next question.” Markets had declined in the fourth quarter of 2018 as the Federal Reserve tightened money and Donald Trump’s trade war accelerated.

Q: I had a really good year in the stock market and my IRA is up a lot. Given the political situation and what is happening with Iran do you think I should take my gains and move to the sidelines? A: I understand why you might feel nervous.

Short-term interest rates are also often used by the Federal Reserve to help the economy recover from a recession or potential slow down, while also trying to cool down the economy if they feel it is getting over heated and increasing the potential for higher inflation.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker sent a letter Tuesday to Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin urging him to defer action on proposed fiduciary regulation. The proposal creates “confusion,” and ignores other state and national regulatory efforts, Baker wrote.

Key markets across the United States saw the effects of surging interest rates as refinance share declined month-over-month in Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Miami, San Francisco and Dallas. While the average interest rate on FHA and VA loans dropped in November compared to the month prior, the average rate for Conventional loans, which accounted for 73% of all…

O.N. Investment Management Co. launched the Envestnet Insurance Exchange for its advisors. The insurance network provides access to reputable insurance carriers and their annuity products alongside traditional managed account investments on the Envestnet platform.

Regarding the movement of equity prices, we associate with the words of Alan “Ace” Greenberg, the head of Bear Stearns during the 1987 market crash: “Stocks fluctuate, next question.” Markets had declined in the fourth quarter of 2018 as the Federal Reserve tightened money and Donald Trump’s trade war accelerated.

Advisors have been coasting for a while on a bull market and a dearth of real competition and disruption. When the market turns and the competition gets real, many RIAs are going to find staying in the race to be near impossible due to three major factors holding them back…

In this week’s Rewirement Tip, Jamie Hopkins discusses the uncertainty with those retirement targets.

The Investor Movement Index® increased to 5.55 in December, up 7.4 percent from its November score of 5.17. The IMX is TD Ameritrade’s proprietary, behavior-based index, aggregating Main Street investor positions and activity to measure what investors actually were doing and how they were positioned in the markets.

Women control about $14 trillion in the United States, the equivalent of the combined gross domestic product of China and India, Fortune magazine reported in April. Firms need to listen to what women want and greater diversity among their advisers and managers, a Morgan Stanley executive says.

The news Friday that a top Iranian commander was killed in a U.S. drone strike sent global markets reeling. As the world awaits the next news in the unfolding showdown between the U.S. and Iran, Brad McMillan of the Commonwealth Financial Network explores the financial fallout of full-blown war.

The yield curve was relatively flat at the end of 2018 and then inverted in 2019, with the interest rates for the 10- year Treasury lower than the shorter-term maturities such as the 3- month Treasury. An inverted yield curve often proceeds a recession as the Federal Reserve is pushing the target federal funds rate higher.

The optimism of high-net-worth investors fell a full 10 percentage points, to 55% in 2019 from 65% in 2018, as concerns about markets, the economy and politics at home and abroad continued dominating the headlines.

The bull market went into overdrive in 2019. The S&P 500 rushed ahead by 29%- its best showing in six years. But as much as investors will always welcome such returns, it does make it tougher to be an income investor.