Every year at or near the beginning of November, certain Intel employees are provided the opportunity to participate in the company’s deferred compensation plan, called SERPLUS. It should be noted that, technically speaking, a deferred compensation plan can refer to any program through which employees can elect to have a portion of their income paid […]
The Pull Back
Well, that was a bit unnerving. Last week the stock market took a pretty good dive and investors were shaken alert. The drop, as measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Average, was about 1,300 points or 5%. That qualifies as an official “pull back.” The market quickly stabilized and closed Friday with a modest gain. […]
Buckets for the Storm
Ten years ago (September 15, 2008), Lehman Brothers, a prominent Wall Street investment bank filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The financial system had been deteriorating for months and the federal government had already stepped in on several occasions to provide support. But the government decided to allow to Lehman to fail. That decision helped to […]
C.R.A.D.L.E. your investments
Since second quarter performance results were made available last week, we’ve received a few inquiries from clients asking about investment returns. Some have been surprised at the returns since the beginning of the year. These inquiries provide an opportunity to review Springwater’s investment management philosophy. At Springwater, we have been students of investing for several […]
Floating Rate Bonds and Rising Interest Rates
A few weeks ago, we discussed interest rates, the 10-Year Treasury Notes and short-term bonds. We briefly mentioned floating rate bonds, a subject to which we return today. To review, in a rising interest rate environment, bonds will lose value. Why? Investors want the best yield possible. If interest rates are rising, investors interested in […]
The 10-Year Treasury and What it Means to You
If you follow interest rates, you may have noticed that the 10-year Treasury note recently closed above 3.00% first time since December 31, 2013. So, what does this mean to you? Let’s start by noting that bond yields rise when bond prices drop. So, when the yield on the 10-year Treasury goes up that means […]
Be Careful with Your Company’s Stock
Imagine that someone has worked for forty years for a company, and is retiring with a pension and shares of stock in that company. If you are among the majority of Americans who do not have a company pension, you might find this scenario rather appealing. But, if that employer were 125-year old General Electric, […]
What are ETFs and should I invest with them?
One of our clients recently asked us if he was invested in the best exchange-traded funds. He readily accepts our investment management philosophy. He understands the importance of asset allocation, diversification, asset location (for tax efficiency), cost containment and rebalancing. But he knows we use a variety of funds to build client portfolios and he […]
Investing, Uncertainty, Risk and Staying in Your Seat
“The market hates uncertainty” has been a common enough saying in recent years, but how logical is it? There are many different aspects to uncertainty, some that can be measured and some that cannot. Uncertainty is an unchangeable condition of existence. As individuals, we can feel more or less uncertain, but that is a distinctly […]
What is “Home Country Bias” in investing?
Every day we enjoy the benefits of an interconnected world. We might start our day with a cup of coffee that originated in South America, check our email on a smartphone designed in California and manufactured in Taiwan, then shower and change into clothes woven from Egyptian fabrics before driving a German-made car or riding […]