The first half of 2022 has been extremely challenging for markets and investors of all types, generating numerous attention-grabbing statistics and headlines along the way. Depending on your chosen metric, the past two quarters have been among the worst in more than 30, 40, or even 50 years of market…
Explaining bond market volatility
In most market environments, the stock market commands the vast majority of investors’ attention—with heightened risks and returns, the “action” is notable, and the price movements are typically fairly intuitive and easy to follow. The bond market, on the other hand, is generally the ugly duckling of capital markets. For…
The trouble with the Dow
For more than a century, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has stood as one of the most-cited stock market indexes, captivating the attention of investment analysts and retail investors alike. But in recent years, the Dow has lost its grip over the investing public, as institutional money managers have increasingly…
Understanding your retiree health benefits
NOTE: The following piece is intended for current and former employees of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Our founder, Jeff Jones, is a former Lockheed Martin engineer, and we at Cypress are privileged to work with a number of Lockheed employees and alumni. If you are interested in learning more about our…
An Accidental Core Component Of Your Retirement Strategy
NOTE: The following piece is intended for current and former employees of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Our founder, Jeff Jones, is a former Lockheed Martin engineer, and we at Cypress are privileged to work with a number of Lockheed employees and alumni. If you are interested in learning more about our…
Are inflation fears justified?
After a year marked by pandemic-related closures, lockdowns, and economic pain, the story so far in 2021 has been one of recovery. With COVID vaccines now widely available, restrictions have been removed throughout the country, and the result has been a much faster economic recovery than just about any expert…
When gamers play the market
For a few wild weeks in late January and early February, the eyes of the investing nation—from the financial media to evening news anchors and even our legislators in Washington, D.C.—were unexpectedly focused on a handful of relatively obscure stocks, names that barely would have rated a mention just a…
When bear markets can be good
According to a popular quotation that has been apocryphally attributed to a wide cast of characters including Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and even Steve Bannon, “there are decades in which nothing happens, and weeks in which decades happen”. While the origin of the statement is uncertain (it may, in fact,…
"Fallen Angels" soar to new heights
The economic and market disruption in the spring brought bad news for many sectors, with particular impact on high-yield bonds, those issued by below-investment-grade companies who are typically at higher risk of default. So-called “junk” bonds predictably struggled as the market fell, with major high-yield bond funds plunging by 20%…
The SECURE Act Becomes Law
For the second time in three years, our friends in Washington have chosen to celebrate the holiday season by passing a significant tax-related bill. Two years ago, a Republican-controlled Congress enacted a substantial tax reform package, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Then, in 2019, a divided government…
