The Transparent Advisor

This has been a historic crash.  Period.  We are rebalancing accounts, executing on our investment plans.  I know, exciting, right?  Investing is about moving slow over decades, not moving fast over days or weeks.   Here are 5 things: Surviving Your Very First Market Crash  by Ben Carlson Wounds Heal, Scars Last  by Morgan Housel Here's Why You Should Rebalance (Again)  by Morningstar Risk is What You Don't See  by Morgan Housel (from back in January 2020) It Doesn't Always Have to Make Sense  by Josh Brown Legal Disclosure:  This is not Investment Advice.  The commentary on  thetransparentadvisor.com  reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of Danno Hoff and should not be regarded as a description of services provided by his employer or its affiliates. The opinions expressed in this website are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific secur

by Danno The corona virus is wreaking havoc on the people of the New York Metro area this weekend.   The fact-based transparency, authenticity, calm, and accountability being demonstrated by Governor Andrew Cuomo is impressive, and is a stark contrast to some other people in leadership positions.  It feels to me like he is leading his people, and helping to bring people together in a very 9/11 kind of a way.  This whole thing is starting to remind me a lot of 9/11. I was in my 4th year of college when 9/11 happened, and I can remember some of the emotions and anxiety that I felt that day and over the couple weeks that followed.   Do you remember being glued to the TV?  Do you r emember, at that time, we didn't know if there were more attacks to come?   Do you remember how it dominated your personal conversations with friends?  Emotional images like this... and this... and "Ground Zero"... ...dominated our mindshare.   There was a great deal of emotio

Stay productive these next 2 weeks.  Don't just stare at the TV.  ~Danno 5 things you need to read, and 1 chart: We'll Get Through This  by Morgan Housel What Happens After the Stock Market Falls  by Michael Batnick COVID 19 - How to Protect Yourself  by the CDC COVID 19 - What To Do If You Are Sick  by the CDC COVID 19 - Schools, Workplaces, and Community Locations  by the CDC and a Chart by Nick Magguilli Legal Disclosure:  This is not Investment Advice.  The commentary on  thetransparentadvisor.com  reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of Danno Hoff and should not be regarded as a description of services provided by his employer or its affiliates. The opinions expressed in this website are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry and provoke thoughts. The v

by Danno This has been a savage 4 days to start the week in US markets.  Short version: ...but with real people.  Just like that we are 28% off the highs in 3 weeks.  Don't forget US stocks were up 30-some percent in 2019, and we all felt smart.  Every once in awhile the markets are going to humble you.  Everyone likes to talk about their wins, but no one likes to talk about their losses.  You can play the best probabilities in the world, and playing the probabilities will work out in your favor over time, but in the process sometimes you just have to take your whipping, knowing that you played the game correctly, and smile. Here is a data piece by JP Morgan Wealth Management listing Bear Market episodes in the past 95 years  (associated graph on  Slide #14 here.  ) You can add this one now. 20% is sort of the official "Bear Market" territory, but the S&P 500 has dropped 15%-20% dozens of other times.  Every single time each of these little ones feels l

by Danno Today was a brutal day for stocks.  The worst since 2008.  I guess that d epends on where you get your news... Anyways...  It's generally not healthy for people to be paying close attention to stocks every day.  However, a lot of people are going to do it right now, so I wanted to bring back an updated chart from a post 2 Fridays ago to reiterate how things work when everyone is losing their cool ( Illustration of Diversification ).  I'm not going to restate my point, you can use the magic time-travelling link above to go back, but here is the updated graphic.  It paints a pretty clean and normal picture of what fear looks like.  Legal Disclosure:  This is not Investment Advice.  The commentary on  thetransparentadvisor.com  reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of Danno Hoff and should not be regarded as a description of services provided by his employer or its affiliates. The opinions expressed in this website are for general inf

5 good reads from last week: Perspective  by Albert Bridge Capital Corona Panic  by Morgan Housel 3 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Bonds  by Nick Magguilli (including this gem of a  Graph ) The Spanish Flu (1918-1920)  by Our World in Data Don't Catch a Falling Knife  by Michael Batnick Have a great week. ~Danno Legal Disclosure:  This is not Investment Advice.  The commentary on  thetransparentadvisor.com  reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of Danno Hoff and should not be regarded as a description of services provided by his employer or its affiliates. The opinions expressed in this website are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry and provoke thoughts. The views reflected in the commentary are subject to change at any time without notice. Nothing on thi

by Danno A wise man once said: I don't care how smart you think you are, your financial plan is going to get punched in the mouth at least once every year or two.  Are you ready for that?  Is your plan built for that?  Have you set your expectations appropriately?  Have you prepared yourself mentally?  Have you trained yourself to look past this and stay focused on your process for the long-term?  Has your Broker or Advisor set your expectations in an unrealistic place?  Have the talking heads on television set your expectations in an unrealistic place? After you get punched in the mouth is not the time to establish your plan.  Your financial plan is something that you create with a 20-year or 30-year or 40-year view.  Your plan should be created when you are thinking clearly.  Unemotionally.  Your plan doesn't need to predict every single up and down that you will experience along the way.  Your plan is something that you create with the end in mind.  If your pl

Here is some of the best stuff I read this past week: Should I Sell My Stocks?  by Michael Batnick 100 Little Ideas  by Morgan Housel Reasons to Sell, updated  by Josh Brown (chart from Batnick) Markets Have ALWAYS Been Rigged, Broken, & Manipulated  by Ben Carlson No, It Is Not a Bubble (Yet)  by Barry Ritholtz What Happens When You Buy the Dip?  by Michael Batnick Fear and Influenza: How Viruses Spread  by Ben Carlson Brooks Koepka, the World's Best Golfer, Has Some Issues With Golf  by Daniel Riley Kids Don't Need to Stay "On Track" to Succeed  by Madeline Levine Have a great week. ~Danno Legal Disclosure:  This is not Investment Advice.  The commentary on  thetransparentadvisor.com  reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of Danno Hoff and should not be regarded as a description of services provided by his employer or its affiliates. The opinions expressed in this website are for general informational purposes only and