Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. We were so nervous! In 1997, my wife and I bought our first house and signed the papers for our $18,800 mortgage. going into debt for the first time. Looking back now, it wasn’t much money, but that debt felt like a huge responsibility. I suspect the tech companies aren’t nearly as nervous about their new debt as we were. Big tech companies are spending a tremendous amount of c

Shipping fertilizer over a huge landmass will never be as cheap or efficient as shipping by sea, but it is starting to lessen the global fertilizer shortage.

There are a lot more individual investors trading than at any time in history.

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. My dad caught my brother and me having a BB gun war. I hid behind a tractor tire trying to shoot my brother's baseball cap off, and my brother was using his Daisy BB gun to try to give me another cowlick. When Dad came around the corner, there was an immediate ceasefire. Hopefully, the Middle East ceasefire won't be as painful as our BB war. Shortly after news broke about a two-

Here are five reasons why the U.S. economy has been insulated from this current crisis and why U.S. stock markets aren’t overreacting.

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. First, we pray for the safe return of our service men and women stationed in the Middle East who are taking part in this military operation. Oil Oil prices have surged 14% in the first few days as Iranian strikes on ships around the narrow Strait of Hormuz have driven energy prices into the conflict. Though natural gas prices have stabilized, we have seen concerned investors mov

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. My personal motto is “consistency, no room for errors,” which drives my kids and wife crazy. I try to find what works and stick with it. I don’t need restaurant menus because I’m going to order the same thing every time. Investors do the same thing. U.S. stocks almost always outperform the global market, so they stick with what works. Well, things are starting to change on that fr

There are additional factors that could be contributing to the market's broadening. Investors have their fingers crossed that the Fed will become more cooperative after Chairman Powell's term ends in May.

Stocks had another strong year in 2025, enjoying their third straight year of double-digit returns.

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. My wife is a little disappointed. We are recent empty-nesters, and for the first time in years, there is no one home to look forward to her Advent calendar full of little notes and candy. Still, her disappointment isn’t anything like the disappointment that Europeans are feeling this winter. For years, European leaders told their citizens that if they went all in on the green en

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. I was pheasant hunting in South Dakota with my boys this last weekend, and we frequently found ourselves on roads with deep mud holes. If it weren’t for our four-wheel drive, we would have been in a mess. Broadening traction is good for mud and even better for the market. Right now, the market advance is expanding across multiple sectors, which is a big positive. Markets have re

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. The neighboring town near where I grew up has an old Missouri Pacific railroad roundhouse. It was already out of use when I was a boy, but it still fascinated me that big steam engines would be driven onto a turntable and rotated around to change directions. There are more tracks today, so it’s easier to turn trains around, but changing directions is still a big deal, maybe even m