Trump is calling for the Federal Reserve to “get interest rates down to zero, or less…” Lowering interest rates is a way to stimulate the economy. Buying cars and refinancing homes allows us to have more discretionary income. That’s good. Seniors who rely on savings for retirement have decreased spending power and can’t keep pace with inflation. That hurts. If the government refinances its outstanding debt, they would have to pay high premiums to buy back their bonds – some as high as $1.40 for every $1. That’s not good. If interest rates are negative the banks may have to…

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2015 is proving to be volatile ride. I don’t like to sound redundant but, if you have a well balanced portfolio that complements your goals, then stay the course! Let’s look at some peak to trough activity to illustrate what moving to cash did to investors in the global financial crisis.  Assume that an investor had $100K invested in 50% bonds and 50% stocks on October 9th, 2007 (the then market high).  Assume further that he or she sold at the market low on March 9, 2009. On March 31, 2014, here are the results: The investor who moved to…

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