By: Steve Economopoulos, CFP®, ChFC, CMT

September 12, 2019

Having a positive influence from a mentor can go a long way in sharing in success learned from wisdom and life experience of another. I have been fortunate to be the youngest of 8 children and have been able to benefit from many mentors. The eldest of our family, my brother Mike, has had much success in his working career. Just a few years older than me (I jest), he has recently summarized his experience in buying and selling a few businesses over his career. Living as a happy retiree, his lessons are summarized in this team talk and suggests how he “won the race” of his life.

By: Jurrien Timmer-Fidelity Viewpoints

September 04, 2019

Key takeaways

• While second-quarter earnings came in above expectations, the third quarter may well turn negative.

• Against the backdrop of possibly ongoing valuation pressure (per the Brexit roadmap), I see little upside for stocks until we get past October's seasonal trough.

• The silver lining is that equity valuations relative to bonds (the equity risk premium) are back to levels seen at the Q4 2018 low, when the S&P 500® index was down 20%.

• Over the long run, a well-diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and cash should continue to serve investors well.

By: Liz Ann Sonders, Jeffrey Kleintop, Brad Sorensen

August 30, 2019

Key points

• Equity markets have stabilized and remain within their broad range established over the past six months, but risks remain.

• Manufacturing sentiment and activity continue to be weak, but that malaise has not yet bled into the larger consumer segment of the economy.

• Not all trade news is gloomy, and certain international regions, like Japan, may provide some much-needed diversification in the current environment.