The Debt Ceiling
February 2013 The debt ceiling negotiations have become very political. The Republicans want the country to be fiscally responsible, at any cost. The Democrats don’t want to cut spending for fear of...
View ArticleSequestration (a.k.a. – Automatic Spending Cuts)
February 2013 The automatic government spending cuts, set to take place on March 1st, are extremely intertwined with the debt ceiling. Some of the background bullet points of this article were also...
View ArticleRisk of Investing in Bonds
March 2013 There has been an increase in noise in the media of a pending “bond bubble.” While I feel that there is risk in the bond market, I don’t feel that there is an immediate need to fear bonds....
View ArticleFederal Reserve Purchasing Treasuries
April 2013 A few weeks ago, a very thoughtful client wrote me asking some very detailed questions. I promised him that I would answer his questions in this forum. Due to the length of the e-mail, I...
View Article“Sell in May, and Go Away”
May 2013 Many of you have probably already heard the financial phrase, “Sell in May, and go away.” It is based upon studies indicating that the majority of the performance of the S&P 500 is often...
View ArticleJeff Powell on Fox Business News: Market Outlook 2013
Watch Jeff Powell, managing partner of Polaris Wealth Advisers, LLC, discuss his outlook on the market for 2013 on Fox Business News Filed under: January 2013 Tagged: Fox Business, Market Outlook,...
View ArticleJeff Powell on Fox Business News: Protecting Your Wealth
Watch Jeff Powell, managing partner of Polaris Wealth Advisers, LLC, discuss strategies for protecting your wealth on Fox Business News. Jeff Powell on Fox Business News 10/23/12 Filed under: October...
View ArticleThe Disciplined Investor
As the markets have fallen from their highs from May 21st, we are beginning to receive phone calls and e-mails showing concern about the overall markets. I want to reiterate some of our investment...
View ArticleLooking at the Full Picture: A Look at the First Half of the 2013 Investment...
It is very common for an investor to fixate on an index as a performance comparison to their portfolio. This familiar mistake often leads investors to chase returns or change their risk parameters if...
View ArticleJeff Powell in the news
Read Jeff Powell’s commentary in Paula Vasan’s piece, Guiding Clients in a Volatile World, from onwallstreet (www.onwallstreet.com). Jeff Powell is the Managing Partner of Polaris Wealth Advisers, LLC...
View ArticleYear-End Planning Part 3: Retirement Contributions
December 2012 Remarkably, 2012 is quickly coming to an end. This is a good time for you to evaluate your retirement plan to make sure that you are contributing as much as the law allows. Some...
View ArticleNew Legislation for 2013: How it Affects You
January 2013 Happy New Year!!! As we have discussed in prior e-mails, the United States was set to plunge over the “fiscal cliff” on New Year’s Day if Congress failed to act. Bi-partisan business as...
View Article2013 Market Outlook
January 2013 Trying to predict the future with any kind of consistency is impossible. There are a lot of people that try to predict the stock market’s price movement to make a name for themselves. As...
View ArticleWhy We Should Care About Oil Prices
Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of news about oil prices dropping. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), one of the major oils tracked worldwide, has dropped from almost $110 per barrel in June...
View Article2014 Markets in Review & 2015 Outlook
Another year is behind us. It was another record year at Polaris Wealth. We passed the half billion assets under management mark thanks to your trust and the hard work performed by the dedicated team...
View ArticleWhat is Risk? Real Returns in a Rising Interest Rate Environment Part II
Last year I wrote about the effects of rising interest rates on traditional asset allocation models. In our March educational e-mail, we discussed how an equally weighted portfolio in stocks and the...
View ArticleThink You’re a Great Investor? Chances are, you probably think you’re at...
Most of us have a bias known as illusory superiority. It is the cognitive preconception at work when individuals overestimate their own qualities and abilities as compared to others. There have been...
View ArticleFirst Quarter 2015 Review
The first three months of our new year were fairly benign. The S&P 500 began the year without much direction, finishing the quarter up a mere 0.44%. What little volatility we experienced seemed to...
View ArticleWhen Will The Feds Raise Rates? (and what is the impact on my portfolio?)
The Federal Open Market Committee (the FOMC) announced on April 29th that it would keep target interest rates at “near zero” levels. The FOMC also removed all hints at a timeline in which it may start...
View ArticleJune Gloom
This time of year often invokes investors to question their allocation to stocks. One of the most common sayings in the financial industry is “Sell in May and Go Away.” It often gives them reason to...
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