February 2025

2025 Stock Market Outlook

In this edition of The Monthly Minute, Courtney Valentine sets the stage for investor expectations ahead of the new year.

November 2024

Economy Health Check

We are now in the final quarter of the year, meaning we have three-quarters of economic data that can be used to spot trends and assess the current state of affairs. So, what are these statistics telling us, and are these data points in line with how Americans view the economy?

In this edition of The Monthly Minute, Ryan Kropog highlights four (4) recent economic readings that help gauge the current state of the US economy.

October 2024

The Federal Reserve Reverses Course

The Federal Reserve has made their first interest rate cut since dramatically increasing interest rates throughout 2022 and 2023. In this edition of the Monthly Minute, Chris Rodriguez discusses some of the economic effects that this cut can cause.

September 2024

Key Factors Driving the Stock Market

In this edition of The Monthly Minute, Courtney Valentine points out variables that will impact the stock market as the Federal Reserve decreases interest rates.

August 2024

IRS Throws Us a Lifeline

A recently amended IRS rule now allows individuals to take a penalty-free withdrawal from their retirement account for an unspecified emergency. Penalty-free withdrawals for those under the age of 59.5 were previously limited in nature. This is a big win for the American worker who has chosen to save rather than spend!

In this edition of The Monthly Minute, Ryan Kropog breaks down the details of this new rule.

July 2024

Coming off the heels of 2022, many investors, economists, and consumers predicted that a recession was looming on the horizon due to the rapid increase in interest rates that we had experienced. So far, this scenario still hasn’t come to pass. Why is that?

In this edition of The Monthly Minute, Chris Rodriguez reviews recent data to help explain why the economy has managed to avoid a recession thus far.

June 2024

In this edition of The Monthly Minute, Courtney Valentine discusses recent shifts in Fed policy and the ripple effects on bond markets.

March 2024

Stocks and Bonds in 2024: A Tale of Two Asset Classes

Stocks and bonds have had a divergent path to start the year. But why? In the latest edition of The Monthly Minute, Ryan Kropog discusses the recent performance of these two major asset classes and what to expect for the rest of 2024.