Why Wall Street’s Dow 20,000 is totally meaningless

The Dow Jones Industrial Average just broke 20,000 for the first time.  Traders and investors cheered this historic high of the world’s most famous stock market index, which is composed of 30 of the biggest and best-performing American companies and is frequently used as a barometer of the strength of the economy.

However, it’s hardly a surprise that the Dow hit this particular milestone. It and other major stock indexes like the Standard & Poor’s 500 have two key features that ensure that they will continually rise and break new zero-filled records: They ignore inflation and are heavily curated. Continue reading Why Wall Street’s Dow 20,000 is totally meaningless

Stocks and the ‘presidential puzzle’

Research into a phenomenon known as the “presidential puzzle” has shown that the stock market performs better under Democrats than Republican presidents.  Does that mean it’s time to sell all of your investments now that Donald Trump has won? Continue reading Stocks and the ‘presidential puzzle’

Why do stocks fall when the Fed considers raising interest rates?

A top-level committee of the Federal Reserve, the US’ central bank, is meeting this week to discuss when it should begin raising interest rates.  Why do stock prices fall when a country’s central bank boosts interest rates?

Continue reading Why do stocks fall when the Fed considers raising interest rates?