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Back in 2018, my wife and I made a big change.We hightailed it out of New York City and made our way down to South Florida.It’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.If you’ve been to NYC, you know it’s utter chaos. Crossing the street, hailing a cab, catching the subway — anytime you want to go anywhere, it’s a struggle.I used to thrive in that environment. I loved grabbing breakfast before the sun rose as I made my way to my trading desk. But as you probably know all too well, our priorities change as we get older.My[…]

Fidelity recently reported that average retirement account balance fell 23% last year.That’s 23% of your money. The money you saved for your retirement … your grandchildren … your legacy.Almost a quarter of it was wiped out last year.That hurts. And you’re not alone. I, just like you, have seen the wealth in my long-term accounts drop in the last year. (My trading accounts are a different story, which we’ll get to.)And even pension funds — the money many depend on for income in their golden years — are in trouble too.State and local pension funds lost almost 6% last year (thankfully their investment in private equity and real estate kept them[…]

Today we need to talk about something you might find hard to confront: home-country bias.For most of us, that means preferring to invest in U.S. stocks and not bother with other global markets.Right now, I believe it’s a mistake to hold this bias.I’ve looked at the data … and my conclusion is you should own more foreign stocks than you likely do right now.You should add some additional exposure to Europe, Japan and … hold your nose here … China.If that sounds unthinkable to you, read on closely.Because today’s Banyan Edge is all about recognizing and overcoming home-country bias.To do that, I’ll share my recent[…]

The speed is uncertain but the destination is known. This bear market will END.And there’s one thing you need to be a successful investor in 2023…The proper temperament.It’s so important that I’m sending you this message from my family trip all the way from the Judean Hills in Israel. Most investors think they aren’t successful because they don’t know accounting or have IQs in the Mensa range.Nothing could be further from the truth…If so, accountants and rocket scientists would top the Forbes 400 list.The real trick is keeping your emotions in check.If you freak out every time your stock drops, you don’t[…]

The Federal Reserve is running a con game.Strong words, I know. Especially for a trusted arm of the government…The Fed was established in 1913 to address a few problems — banking panics, the United States’ money supply, system risks in financial markets — you name it.To this day, its goals are to maximize employment, stabilize prices and maintain moderate long-term interest rates.That all sounds great.But from where I stand, it’s clear the Fed has lost sight of these objectives.Over the past century, the Fed has gone from a trusted, neutral institution … into nothing more than unelected bureaucrats with an ax to grind. If anything, they’re bent on influencing the economy and markets at their every whim.But[…]

We hit the $31 trillion debt ceiling … which means the United States will default on its debt for the first time in history unless Congress and the White House can find a way to agree on … well … anything!Meanwhile, the layoffs in techland continue, with Microsoft shedding 10,000 jobs and Alphabet reducing headcount by another 12,000.Along with all this … home affordability is actually worse today than it was during the mortgage bubble that preceded the 2008 meltdown.None of these things suggest we’ve already seen the worst of this downturn…Yet quietly, one “barbarous” asset is surging higher amid[…]

All successful people know that the easy way is rarely the “right” way … and that the right way is rarely easy.Think of a time when you tried taking a shortcut in life, business or investing. You probably didn’t wind up at the pot of gold like you envisioned, right?But I also know you’re constantly bombarded — in this new era of internet and social media — with lures down the “easy” path.It’s a troubling change from how things used to be.You probably grew up in the era when your best friend is the guy who told you the truth,[…]

Note from Charles Sizemore, Chief Editor: Today in The Banyan Edge, we have a special guest contributor joining us. His name is Keith Kaplan, founder and CEO of TradeSmith — a company with a powerful software that I personally consider to be an essential tool for every investor. In fact, I believe there’s no better way to boost your returns (while limiting losses) then with the software Keith and his team have developed. With years like 2022, and what’s likely to be another humdinger in 2023, the timing couldn’t be better to see the great work the TradeSmith team is[…]

My wife and I moved to the Florida Keys the year after we married. We were chasing our dream — a stilted concrete-block house in Islamorada (the best spot in the Keys, hands-down). At first, we couldn’t find anything in that tiny real estate market, so we settled for Little Torch Key. Halfway between Islamorada and Key West, it’s essentially no-man’s land. Our first week there, I perused the local paper’s classified ads for a tow-trailer to store our overflow stuff in. An ad, titled “Not for the Faint of Heart,” caught my eye. It was for a “customized” ‘92[…]

You’ve probably heard the phrase “sell in May and go away.” It comes from the trend of stock returns being worse from May to October and better from November to April. Now, I say “traditionally” because every year is different. There are plenty of individual examples where May was a bad time to sell and November was a bad time to buy. This cliché is just a simple example of seasonality. Imperfect as it is, you can’t ignore seasonality. Under the right conditions, it can turn an average trading strategy into an exceptional one. What many don’t know is, patterns[…]