Casual Friday: Financial Insights

As we reach the home stretch of 2021, there is a lot to be thankful for. Stocks are having an amazing year, the economy is improving, and COVID-19 trends are going the right direction. This week, Brian looks at some reasons to be thankful. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Ke...

With Halloween over the weekend, what better time to talk about what scares us? If our positive near-term market outlook proves to be overly optimistic, we believe one (or perhaps more than one) of these five things will likely be the culprit: inflation, an aggressive Federal Reserve, profit margin pressures, pulling forward of seasonal gains, and potentially overly bullish sentiment.  Ford Financ...

In this bonus episode, Brian discusses the debt limit, or debt ceiling, and how Congress' failure to solve the problem in a timely manner is creating volatility in markets. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution l...

This week, Brian looks back at the rough month for investors in September. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license . Source . Tracking ID: 1-05197479 Send in your questions!

This week, Brian talks about the danger of being a reactionary investor when markets get turbulent, as they did last week. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license . Source . Tracking ID: Send in your questions!

If you're in search of financial independence, the first place you must start is by working on a budget for you and your family. Keeping track of spending - so you can understand your habits and spend more wisely - is an important reason for creating a budget. Budgets help you better understand what you earn, understand where you spend it (you spend more on takeout than you realize), and help...

The term stagflation has been increasingly circulating in the financial media as inflation readings have risen sharply in recent months. The term is often associated with the 1970s which saw runaway inflation—largely driven by sky-high energy prices—and lackluster economic growth. This week Brian discusses one way to gauge stagflation is to calculate what is commonly referred to as the Misery Inde...

Investors finally got the strong pop in payrolls many have been calling for, breaking from the string of recent lukewarm jobs reports and weakening data from other segments of the economy that have been stoking peak growth fears. And, yet, while this is an unequivocally bullish jobs report, Brian covers why some questions remain. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Que...

This week Brian discusses how Housing Starts are now hovering in the same territory as the highs reached prior to the Great Recession; an economic instance spurred by excess housing activity and high home prices. We also cover the latest reading for the Leading Economic Index (LEI). The index grew 0.7% month over month, a bit slower than the previous three months but still squarely in positive ter...

This week has provided investors with a fresh batch of data carrying the potential to heavily affect the inflation debate. Tuesday brought us the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June, while Wednesday saw the release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) for June as well as the start of Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell’s two-day testimony to Congress providing an update on the economy. So has a...

The S&P 500 Index closed at a record highs last week, yet investors seem increasingly on edge with the VIX Index, a measure of implied volatility on the S&P 500, spiking nearly 40% at one point. We won’t bury the lead here, Brian's answer to the title is simple: this could be the start of a correction, but we aren’t betting on a significant decline in the S&P 500 and Brian discuss...

Summer is in full swing, and so is our "Casual Friday" broadcast! This past Friday as Ryan and Brian recapped the week in markets and review some charts that grabbed their attention. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Common...

This week Brian discusses how inflation has soared the past few months, with the May Consumer Price Index (CPI) coming in at 5.0% year-over-year, the highest since 2008, while the core CPI (excluding energy and food) was 3.8%, the highest since 1992. The Bloomberg consensus is calling for 3.4% headline CPI this year, which has many worried about potentially runaway inflation.  Ford Financial Group...

Listen in on our broadcasts from last week as Ryan and Brian talked about the week in markets and reviewed 4 charts for our "Casual Friday" show. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license . Source . Trac...

This week Brian discusses how the U.S. economy is opening up and overall sentiment on Main Street is the strongest it’s been since our earliest analysis in 2005, according to LPL Research’s proprietary Beige Book Barometer (BBB). Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeo...

Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license . Source . Tracking ID:  Send in your questions!

This week Brian reviews the rocky week we had last week in markets, talks Federal Reserve, and touches on the initial jobless claims numbers. We also reviewed 5 key principles that investors should consider for their portfolios.  Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeo...

With over 90% of S&P 500 companies reporting results, first quarter earnings are tracking to an almost 50% year-over-year increase. In addition, S&P 500 revenue is on track to increase 10% year over year, which is more than 4% above the March 31 estimate and the largest upside surprise FactSet has ever recorded. This week Brian discusses the impact of this record earnings season, and what...

This week Brian discusses how investors betting on a continued acceleration in U.S. payrolls in April following March’s impressive numbers received an unwelcome reminder of just how choppy the data can be month-to-month. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is lice...

One of the best known investment axioms is to “sell in May and go away.” This is largely because the six months from May through October have historically been some of the weakest months of the year for stocks. This week Brian discusses how the next six months have tended to be on the weak side, but does that mean investors should run for the hills? CLICK HERE for the first LPL chart mentioned in...

Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Funk - Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license . Source . Tracking ID:  Send in your questions!

Stocks have kicked off the year in a strong fashion, and history shows this may give reason to be optimistic for the rest of the year. After a solid—but certainly turbulent—year in 2020, the S&P 500 Index has continued to set new all-time highs in 2021, returning 5.8% in the first quarter. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email u...

This week Brian reviews market performance from last week's holiday-shortened week, discusses the impressive jobs numbers reported last week, and digs in on 12 common financial mistakes you should avoid that could hinder your ability to grow your wealth. Ford Financial Group on Facebook Ford Financial Group on YouTube Questions? Find us at FordFG.com Email us at info@fordfg.com Music: Cold Fu...

This week you get to listen in on the audio recording of last week's webinar with Dr. Bill Lloyd, the Health Director of Transamerica's Advanced Markets Group, where he and Brian covered and overview of the pandemic as it stands today and what scientists have learned about transmission. They also covered how the different vaccines work, and what kinds of steps you still need to take to p...

In almost every direction we turn, we see optimism mounting over a mid-2021 economic re-acceleration. Unfortunately, it seems we will have to wait at least another month for that optimism to make their way into leading economic indicators in a major way. This week Brian discusses how the Conference Board released its February 2021 report detailing the latest reading for its Leading Economic Index...