2021 Snapshots

January 10, 2021
The global economy had a massive shock in early 2020 when the Covid pandemic erupted and shutdowns ensued. Despite a big rebound, U.S. real GDP was still 3.4% below its peak as of the end of September. To put this economic hit in perspective, the...
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Easy Money

September 4, 2020
To many observers the global economy seems stuck on pause as Covid-19 rolls its way through different geographies. Workers able to work remotely are doing so, while millions of “non-essential workers” have been laid off or furloughed. Layoff announcements peaked recently at levels slightly above...
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Divergence

May 8, 2020
The speed with which this particular market episode has unfolded is unprecedented. It took just four weeks for the broad market to fall between 35-40%, bottoming on March 23, 2020. The current rebound, thanks to a massive liquidity program from the Federal Reserve and unprecedented...
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Pandemic

March 11, 2020
The last several weeks have seen an enormous amount of market volatility. Not just the stock market – this volatility has affected every financial market in the world, from stocks to bonds to commodities and so forth. The S&P 500 peaked on a closing basis...
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2020 Snapshots

January 15, 2020
Lyell Wealth Management invests substantial resources in proprietary research which helps us decipher real economic and market data apart from the sensationalist financial media. We periodically publish a Snapshots issue that compiles charts and tables that we think are interesting. There may not necessarily be...
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Running with Scissors

September 12, 2019
The markets are contending with many significant issues that have led to increased volatility. The primary issue is the U.S.-China trade war and associated slowing of the European, Japanese and Chinese economies along with decreased U.S. manufacturing and business investment. The Trump administration is challenging...
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Total Return

May 31, 2019
There is an old saying in the investment world that “Profits are an opinion, but dividends are a fact.” The implication is that nothing matters until an investor has received her cash distribution. It may therefore seem reasonable to focus on the dividend yield as...
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Patience

February 4, 2019
Last year was a turbulent one for investors in which virtually every asset class ended flat to down. As noted in the August Tug of War Perspective, Lyell Wealth Management shifted to a less bullish, more balanced outlook towards the markets last summer, as we...
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This Side of the Pond

October 15, 2018
Perhaps the most consensus investment advice in recent years has been for investors to allocate more funds overseas. Financial media and commentators consistently tout the merits of international investing with a particular emphasis on Europe. The primary attraction cited is valuation with European stocks having...
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Tug of War

August 1, 2018
One can make a compelling narrative why the bull market in U.S. equities is not over. For starters, 2018 has ushered in the lowest statutory corporate tax rate since the 1940s. U.S. companies are on pace to repatriate $500 billion from abroad in 2018, with...
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