Investment Newsletter for the end of February, 2019

The market went up over 730 points in February. It is a very nice result and it means that most of you made money. A real question is why it went up so much. We don’t recall any significantly good news that justifies it. The economy is about where it was before. There are more hopes about a trade deal happening between the United States and China, but there is also a lot of pessimism in the news about the economy in 2019. We figure those two items should be a wash. In the end February’s gain is as inexplicable as December’s fall. That leads to the first point of this newsletter. Movements in the market often don’t make sense. While we know that stock prices are affected by news, we often don’t know by how much and in what direction. Our advice when you see something bad in the news is to not worry about it. It may hurt the stock market but it might not. The government shutdown was certainly a large piece of negative news, but the stock market grew throughout.

The second point of this newsletter is the importance of data measurement. In order to progress and advance yourself in any endeavor you need to know where you stand. It applies to losing weight, to cooking, etc. It also applies to finance. Pop quiz: How much money did you spend during the month of February? How much money did you earn? To the people who can’t answer those questions, I recommend that you start tracking those things. You should track those things in order to prevent negative surprises. You don’t want to suddenly find out that you can’t pay the bills that are due that day. Glance through your expenses and see if anything is unnecessary. Now what is or is not necessary varies on the person, but decide if any expenses are unnecessary to you. Check if you are spending more money on something than you wish. Perhaps in the end you are happy with everything you spend money on, but for your sake it’s important for you to know that for certain.

Another important example of data measurement is a personal balance sheet. It is a record of the monetary value of what you have and the monetary value of what you owe. Try to maximize the former and minimize the latter. Knowing your balance sheet is essential for your retirement or any time that your income level drops. If you can’t count on new money entering your bank account, you need to know your ability to survive without it.

Hopefully you got some value from this newsletter. We appreciate your business and trust.

Dan and Eli


Investment Fee Schedule

Rate Assets Under Management
1.44% Below $125,000
1.00% Between $125,000 and $750,000
.85% Between $750,000 and $1,250,000
.80% Between $1,250,000 and $1,750,000
.75% Between $1,750,000 and $2,500,000
.70% Between $2,500,000 and $3,250,000
.65% Between $3,250,000 and $4,250,000
.60% Above $4,250,000

A single rate is applied to the whole account. I will waive personal tax return fees for accounts over $1 million. For accounts that are above $5,250,000, we’ll need to discuss a custom rate.


As I’m writing these to help my readers, I would be very appreciative of any input in regards to what I should write next. If you want me to write about a particular topic, please contact me. Please contact me if you would like to submit a post to my blog.

If anything that I mentioned above interests you, please consider downloading my free e-book. The book contains my thoughts on investment management and some information that I think everyone should know. You can also download it below.

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Questions for the comments

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