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@theMarket: Holiday Cheer Lead Stocks Higher
By Bill Schmick,
03:49PM / Friday, November 29, 2024
Scott Bessant at Treasury, threats of day-one tariffs on trading partners, and calls for another end-of-year rally buoyed markets. It is a seasonally bullish time for the equity markets with Christmas around the corner.   By now, you have probably heard that hedge fund manager Bessant will take the reins at the U.S. Treasury in January. Markets cheered that news. Most market participants believe Bessant is the man best suited for that post. Investors hope he will be market-friendly and a voice of moderation in the new Trump administration.   But before Bessant or anyone else gets carried away with the idea that Trump has lost that loving feeling he has for

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The Retired Investor: Cost of College Pulls Students South
by Bill Schmick,
04:34PM / Thursday, November 28, 2024
As the cost to attend several Ivy League colleges approaches $90,000 per year, applications to obtain a college degree below the Mason-Dixon line have skyrocketed.   But let's not focus on the most expensive schools like Princeton and Harvard. The average tuition price across all the Ivy League colleges is almost $65,000 annually. Many Southern colleges charge substantially less with pricing ranging from $30,000 to $49,999 per year.   However, college costs go beyond the tuition and fees charged at schools. The costs are increased by several additional factors such as living expenses, graduate outcomes, and financial aid.   In these areas,

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@theMarket: Stocks Should Climb into Thanksgiving
By Bill Schmick,
01:57PM / Friday, November 22, 2024
Last week, traders made profits from the Trump trade. This week they reversed their positions. I expect further upside into the Thanksgiving holiday.   The market's performance was even more impressive considering the disappointing earnings from the number one AI player, Nvidia. The semiconductor giant reported stellar third-quarter earnings this week, but they were just not good enough to keep the stock's upside price momentum going.   Company management said supply chain issues reduced the growth rate in sales to the slowest in seven quarters. All that means, in my opinion, is that revenue will be boosted down the road when the bottlenecks are

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The Retired Investor: Thanksgiving Dinner May Be Slightly Cheaper This Year
By Bill Schmick,
04:49PM / Thursday, November 21, 2024
After several years of price increases, consumers have come to expect that the typical Turkey Day dinner will cost more this year. Depending on how astute a shopper you are, you could get away with paying less this year.   Some items on your dinner agenda may be more expensive than in 2023 but others may have dropped in price. The price may also depend on where you shop and whether you insist on buying only name brands or are willing to buy store brands instead.   Every year since the COVID pandemic, grocery store prices and costs have been going up with the largest contributors to the cost being transportation, labor, and climate change. In 2020 (plus-3.5

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@theMarket: Profit-Taking Trims Post-Election Gains
By Bill Schmick,
03:03PM / Friday, November 15, 2024
A 5 percent gain in nine days on the benchmark S&P 500 Index was met by profit-taking. Traders booked gains in Trump trades as some had second thoughts about continued upside. Who can blame them?   The conviction by many that happy days are here again (or will be by next year) sent markets through the roof in a frenzy of FOMO-generated trades. Technology took a back seat for a change as small-cap stocks soared on the belief that tariffs would force consumers to buy made-in-America products from American companies.   Smaller capitalization companies are distinctly American and are listed on the Russell 2,000 Index. Traders know that a good 40 percent of these

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