Michael Carrico, Author at Howe & Rusling

Markets moving on computer screen and with a newton's cradle swinging

Why is the Market Falling?

Michael Carrico April 22, 2024

Any time the stock market falls for several days in a row, investors are bound to wonder what’s causing the volatility, even if they aren’t necessarily worried about it. I have not had many clients, friends, or family members ask me about the recent losses in the stock market yet, which I take to mean that most people aren’t that concerned. However, if the trend continues, it’s only a matter of time before I will be talking about the markets at dinner parties. Our readers and clients know that we think and invest long-term, but I always tell my clients that I want them to know why we’re doing what we’re doing. An informed investor is a more confident investor. With that in mind, let’s examine the recent price action in the markets, discuss what might be causing the reaction, and try to understand what the future may hold.

VR googles showing an image of a Metavers isometric illustration with meme coins

Investors, Speculators, and Irrational Markets: Why We Focus on the Long-Term

Michael Carrico March 22, 2024

Among my friends in the industry, we tend to challenge one another’s thinking and ask interesting questions just for fun. Well, I call it fun, though our significant others may beg to differ when it comes up at dinner parties. Lately there have been several discussions about whether current prices are justified by underlying fundamentals and one friend even suggested he may use some “fun money” to short NVDA. This inevitably led my other friend to a quote he has revisited often as of late…

Illustration of chess game with magnificent seven logos and

How Are the Magnificent 7 Faring Through Earnings Season?

Michael Carrico February 23, 2024

The S&P 500 closed last week down 0.42% ending a five-week winning streak and pulling back from a string of record-breaking highs. The dour mood continued into the beginning of this week and the S&P 500 only barely squeaked out a positive return in the last few minutes of trading on Wednesday leading up to the Nvidia earnings release only to turn on a dime and power back on Thursday. There are explanations for this activity which I’ll explore below. However, the bottom line is that volatility is back in the markets, and we are seeing that in the reactions to earnings announcements this quarter. As of Wednesday night, the companies dubbed the Magnificent 7 have all reported earnings and they seem as good an example as any to explore how changing expectations are impacting stock prices.

Investing in an Election Year: Should Investors Worry About the U.S. Presidential Election?

Michael Carrico January 26, 2024

Should Investors Worry About the U.S. Presidential Election? Happy New Year, everyone! I know we’re already nearly a month into 2024, but this is my first article to our clients in the new year and I just took down my Christmas tree embarrassingly late in January, so it still feels appropriate. At the beginning of every year, the financial media is awash in market forecasts. It should come as no surprise that I am not one for market predictions, but it is valuable to consider the developments so far in 2024, understand the market environment we find ourselves in today, and think about the challenges and opportunities the coming year may have in store. One topic I expect to come up in conversation this year is the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Throughout my career, every presidential election cycle has brought fresh anxiety for investors and questions about what a given election outcome might mean for the markets. So, we’ll consider that question today and hopefully avoid some apprehension later.

Collage with financial news and families enjoying the holidays

The Important Things: tuning out the financial noise to focus on what really matters

Michael Carrico December 15, 2023

As the end of the year rapidly approaches and we all spend time with our friends, family, and loved ones, it feels as though time is accelerating and 2023 will be in the past before we know it. Reflecting on the topics of blog articles this year, I wrote about legislation a few times including changes to Roth rules, debt ceiling battles, and banking regulation interventions. Macroeconomic conditions, geopolitical tensions, and market reactions to both were also common topics. Perhaps the most common subject was the Federal Reserve and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), and it was so frequent that we need not count. There was another Federal Reserve meeting this week and, while the Summary of Economic Projections was a point of some interest for the markets, reflecting on such a strange year for economics and the markets got me thinking of the bigger picture. Perhaps it’s the season, but it feels like a good time to take a step back and reflect not on the noise of the financial press and the minutiae of the financial markets, but on the reasons we all bother to get up in the morning, go to work, do the hard things, and invest for the future.

Your Guide to HSA Year-End Contributions

Michael Carrico December 12, 2023

With the year swiftly coming to a close it’s time for taxpayers to think about those year-end financial housekeeping items. While there are many topics to consider such as year-end tax deadlines, portfolio allocation, and the cost of the holidays, what we’re thinking about today is Health Savings Accounts or “HSAs.” Today we’ll review HSA contribution limits and deadlines, the value of HSAs as a tax planning and retirement planning tool, and investing your HSA balance.

What is the Behavior Gap?

Michael Carrico November 17, 2023

Any time the market moves several percentage points in a week, let alone a day, it can make an investor wonder if they need to be doing something, anything, in response. I regularly get questions from clients around the time of big moves in the markets in either direction. Should the strategy change? Am I missing out? Could I be better positioned? One example of such a move was Tuesday of this week when CPI data was released and came in slightly better than expectations. The S&P 500 index was up 1.91% at the close while the Russell 2000 index, a widely followed small-cap U.S. stock index, ended the day up 5.49% and U.S. Treasury yields dropped sharply. Today we’ll examine what might explain that big day in the markets, why investors might feel a need to act, and whether taking some action makes sense.

Attention-grabbing Headlines: Wars, Money Supply, Interest Rates, and Bitcoin

Michael Carrico October 28, 2023

There are always headlines moving the markets. Well, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that there are always headlines and the markets are always moving. As to whether those headlines are the cause of market moves is open to debate. Regardless of the cause and effect relationship, headlines can create headaches for investors, and it can be difficult to know if those headlines are worth worrying about. So today I would like to look at a few headlines that have jumped out at me in recent weeks. Among those attention-grabbing news stories are geopolitical conflicts, the United States money supply, interest rates (yet again), and bitcoin.

Spam, Scams, and… AI?

Michael Carrico September 29, 2023

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but lately it seems the volume of spam I have been receiving has ballooned wildly. Spam certainly was not born with the advent of the internet and has been a reality of the connected world even before most households had an AOL installation disc arrive in the mail. Remember chain letters? However, just this year I have noticed more and more phishing emails are getting through the spam blocker on both personal and professional inboxes.

Women reading a newspaper with color collage elements over the photo

Let’s Talk About Headlines: Jackson Hole, China, U.S. Banks, and Nvidia

Michael Carrico August 25, 2023

With earnings season winding down and this week’s relatively light economic calendar, the talk of the week has been around Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole which is underway as of the publishing of this article. One of these days, speeches by Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) members and monetary policy decisions may once again be humdrum affairs which don’t compel regular newsletter updates, but that time has not yet come.

Michael Carrico

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