Articles

"The gas pumps are turned off." A few weeks ago, my son and I tried to get gas for our bassboat from the local marina. Usually, the pumps are on during fishing season early in the morning with a credit card, but the new corporate owners shut them down. In the same...

“Is this going to blow through or set in?” It was Labor Day, and we were on the lake a long way from our dock when storm clouds surprisingly popped up. It’s easy to get surprised by the weather on Table Rock Lake with its high bluffs. It looks like the Federal Reserve...

"What's up with gas prices?" My 16-year-old son, who pays for his own gas, ran up the stairs very frustrated. He'd just spent $85 to fill his truck when he used to pay $65. Most Americans are feeling the same way as my son, that gas prices are too high. Almost every...

"Will you set the table?" When my wife says this, I know I'm about to do a little work, but soon it will be time to eat. The market blues of August and September hopefully set the table for good times ahead. Stocks snapped a five-month winning streak in August after...

“That squirrel had a death wish.” The squirrel was trying to cross the road but was indecisive and started darting back and forth until finally going back to the side he had just come from, barely missing my truck tire. Many investors are like that squirrel, darting...

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “Any long-term investor trying to build a diversified portfolio will likely have some international stock holdings.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “On August 1, Fitch, one of the three main credit rating agencies, downgraded US government debt to its second-highest rating, AA+.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “This quarter’s earnings reporting season is mostly behind us, with about 85% of S&P 500 companies having reported their results.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “The Federal Reserve, the greatest influence in the stock market in the last two years, raised its rate again on July 26th. It was the 11th rate increase since March 2022, making it the highest rate level since early 2001.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “In the Spring of 2020, gas prices dropped to their lowest levels in decades because of a lack of demand during the pandemic. Shortly after, oil and gas prices rose sharply through the economic recovery and shipping problems in 2021.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “As I chart a course for the accounts I manage for the rest of the year, I find it helpful to review the first six months of 2023.”

"We can always take it back." I don't know when my Craftsman tool indoctrination began, but one thing for sure, we knew if we broke it, bent it, or wore it out, we could take it back and get a new replacement wrench. We trusted in the strength of the Craftsman...

"I never want to back a boat trailer in again." Some of the greatest stress in my marriage was trying to help my wife back the boat trailer down a ramp. She didn't want to load the boat or back the trailer, so the whole process became a stress test. US big banks just...

"I forgot to mention it's on the third floor." My sister conned me into helping her move into an apartment several years ago and didn't tell me we'd have to carry her oversized couch up three flights of stairs. I smashed my hand carrying it but eventually got my...

"Now we listen to it idle." My dad worked on small engines as a side job when I was a kid. I remember watching him adjust a cantankerous carburetor and then stepping back to watch it. I asked him what he was waiting for, and he said, "Now we listen to it idle," to see...

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “The market technically started a new bull market in the last few days when stocks rose 20% above the last bear market low point.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “We just reached the 100th trading day of 2023, and it’s been a solid 100 days for stocks.”

Financial management news and insights from Fervent Wealth Management in Springfield, MO. “Last Monday, May 22, 2023, a fake picture claiming to show an explosion near the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., was posted and widely shared on social media, causing a quick drop in the stock market.”