Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Questions and concerns that should be addressed before retirement -

 

Many questions and concerns should be addressed before retirement.


Discover more by clicking this link:

 http://www.hagenfn.com/resource-center/retirement/an-inside-look-at-retirement-living 

Monday, July 13, 2015

Search Engines - what are they tracking?

Weekly Market Commentary
July 13, 2015
 The Markets

It’s a cautionary tale…

Many Chinese investors were so optimistic about the prospects for Chinese stock markets they 
bought on margin, meaning they borrowed money to buy stocks. Borrowing to invest has
been so popular that the amount of margin loans doubled in just six months to about
$320 billion, according to Barron’s. Experts cited in the article said, “…margin financing
in China is equal in size to Indonesia’s entire stock market valuation and as high a portion
as it has been in any market at any time…”

The problem with buying on margin is repaying the loan if stocks move in the wrong direction.
Since the middle of June, Chinese stock markets have lost more than $3 trillion, reported
CNN.com. Barron’s explained how margin works:

“In China, a typical investor can borrow $1.25 for every dollar of cash she has,
giving her what China calls a “guarantee ratio” of 180 percent, or $2.25
(cash and stock bought on margin) divided by $1.25 (loan value). But, as
her stock loses value, the guarantee ratio also falls. At 150 percent, the broker
will start to issue margin calls. When the ratio hits 130 percent, the brokerage
will force the liquidation of the position to meet the loan.”

About 80 percent of the investors in China’s markets live in China. Many have suffered
significant losses as markets have moved lower.

The BBC reported China’s market regulator responded to the market downturn by making
it even easier for people to borrow money to invest. Apparently, the hope is small investors
will put more money in stocks. Regulators also banned investors who hold 5 percent or more
of a company’s stock from selling their shares for six months.

By the middle of last week, Chinese markets had stopped losing value. Only time will tell
whether they have truly stabilized.

Closer to home, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) suffered a computer glitch that halted
trading for several hours last week. The NYSE tweeted, “The issue we are experiencing is an
internal technical issue and is not the result of a cyber breach.”



Data as of 7/10/15
1-Week
Y-T-D
1-Year
3-Year
5-Year
10-Year
Standard & Poor's 500 (Domestic Stocks)
0.0%
0.9%
5.7%
15.7%
14.0%
5.5%
Dow Jones Global ex-U.S.
-1.5
2.2
-6.7
7.5
4.3
3.0
10-year Treasury Note (Yield Only)
2.4
NA
2.5
1.5
3.1
4.1
Gold (per ounce)
-0.7
-3.3
-13.5
-10.1
-0.8
10.6
Bloomberg Commodity Index
-2.5
-4.8
-24.3
-10.3
-4.6
-4.5
DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index
1.8
-2.3
6.8
10.1
14.2
6.9
S&P 500, Dow Jones Global ex-US, Gold, Bloomberg Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index does include reinvested dividends and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at the close of the day on each of the historical time periods.
Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron’s, djindexes.com, London Bullion Market Association.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into directly. N/A means not applicable.

Big data is making the news. A well-known search engine company has introduced
a cloud-based big data service and a news laboratory which provides data about trends to
journalists. During 2014 and 2015, it provided:

·         The Economist with information about the employers and industry sectors that were most
popular with American job seekers.

·         TIME with five of the top trending people and topics for 2014: Ebola, the Ice Bucket
Challenge, Ferguson [Missouri], Vladimir Putin, and Dilma Rousseff.
·   
  
The New York Times with a state-by-state assessment of popular Thanksgiving foods. In
California they like persimmon bread; in Texas it was sopapilla cheesecake; in Minnesota
they were searching for wild rice casserole; and in New York the favorite was stuffed
artichokes.  

The Washington Post
with data on depression, pain, anxiety, stress, and fatigue,
so it could create a daily misery index for the year.
·     Buzzfeed and Vocativ with British and American political data, including the most searched candidate names and questions most frequently asked of candidates.

The search engine also tracks what we don’t know or can’t remember. For instance, it has
created a cocktail tool to provide instructions for making the drinks most frequently sought
in online searches and a nutrition comparison tool to facilitate food smack downs (mashed
potatoes beat sweet potatoes for sugar, but sweet potatoes win when it comes to Vitamin A, potassium, and calcium).

Always remember: When you go online and use certain search engines, your data is being
stored and sorted. It’s important to know.

Weekly Focus – Think About It

“We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big
as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.”
--Mao Zedong, Former Chairman of the Communist Party of China

Best regards,

“Your Name Here”

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* These views are those of Peak Advisor Alliance, and not the presenting Representative or the Representative’s Broker/Dealer, and should not be construed as investment advice.
* This newsletter was prepared by Peak Advisor Alliance. Peak Advisor Alliance is not affiliated
with the named broker/dealer.
* Government bonds and Treasury Bills are guaranteed by the U.S. government as to the timely
payment of principal and interest and, if held to maturity, offer a fixed rate of return and fixed principal value.  However, the value of fund shares is not guaranteed and will fluctuate.
*Corporate bonds are considered higher risk than government bonds but normally offer a higher
yield and are subject to market, interest rate and credit risk as well as additional risks based on
the quality of issuer coupon rate, price, yield, maturity, and redemption features.
* The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged group of securities considered to be
representative of the stock market in general. You cannot invest directly in this index.
* The Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500) is an unmanaged index. Unmanaged index returns do
not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. Index performance is not indicative of the performance
of any investment.
* The Dow Jones Global ex-U.S. Index covers approximately 95% of the market capitalization of
the 45 developed and emerging countries included in the Index.
* The 10-year Treasury Note represents debt owed by the United States Treasury to the public.
Since the U.S. Government is seen as a risk-free borrower, investors use the 10-year Treasury
Note as a benchmark for the long-term bond market.
* Gold represents the afternoon gold price as reported by the London Bullion Market Association.
The gold price is set twice daily by the London Gold Fixing Company at 10:30 and 15:00 and is
expressed in U.S. dollars per fine troy ounce.
* The Bloomberg Commodity Index is designed to be a highly liquid and diversified benchmark
for the commodity futures market. The Index is composed of futures contracts on 19 physical
commodities and was launched on July 14, 1998.
* The DJ Equity All REIT Total Return Index measures the total return performance of the
equity subcategory of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry as calculated by
Dow Jones.
* Yahoo! Finance is the source for any reference to the performance of an index between
two specific periods.
* Opinions expressed are subject to change without notice and are not intended as investment advice or to predict future performance.
* Economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.
* Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal.
* You cannot invest directly in an index.
* Consult your financial professional before making any investment decision.
* Stock investing involves risk including loss of principal.
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Sources:


What Can Kids Teach Us About Money?

What Our Kids Can Teach us About
Saving Money...
Read more about it by clicking this link:

What Kids Teach Us About Money

Read more by clicking this link.. http://www.hagenfn.com/resource-center/money/what-our-kids-can-teach-us-about-saving-money.

Hagen Financial Network 
LPL Financial Advisor
Leif  M. Hagen, CLU, ChFC
651-209-6350


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