Are You Prepared For a Market Drop?

The stock market has experienced the perfect storm of bullishness in 2013.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is making new all-time highs, surging more than 9% within the first three months of the year. Meanwhile, the broad market barometer known as the SP 500 has pushed within 20 points of the all-time high of 1,565 reached back on Oct. 9, 2007.

The market rally is being fueled by an ideal combination of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing measures mixed with improved housing numbers and employment data. Continue reading "Are You Prepared For a Market Drop?"

Beware of the March Effect on the Stock Market

"Beware the Ides of March." This famous line uttered by a soothsayer in William Shakespeare's 1601 play, "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar," warned the ruler of his pending demise on the 15th day of March.

Well, we all know what happened to Caesar.

We could apply this same warning to the stock market today.

In the past few years, every stock rally in the beginning of the each year was met by a sharp sell-off in the spring. Certainly, this doesn't portend to mean the entire year ended badly. In fact, those investors with the foresight to buy during the spring swoons generally ended the year with strong gains. Continue reading "Beware of the March Effect on the Stock Market"