Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   This winter has been anything but predictable. In our area, temperatures have swung from the 70s one day to brisk 30s the next, reminding us how quickly conditions can change. Financial markets have shown similar swings recently, keeping investors alert even as overall trends remain intact.   After beginning the year at near record levels, U.S. stock markets have begun to move with greate

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   I’ve been in this business long enough to see investors go through several versions of the Federal Reserve, from crisis fighter to inflation watchdog. What’s different today isn’t just policy; it’s how much uncertainty surrounds it. For years, investors could count on the Federal Reserve to play a familiar role: steady, predictable and largely insulated from politics. When markets stumble

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   Every December, as holiday parties fill the calendar and year-end checklists get shorter, the stock market picks up a familiar storyline: the Santa Claus Rally. You’ll hear it mentioned on financial news channels and in market commentaries, usually with a mix of optimism and skepticism. Some investors swear by it. Others dismiss it as folklore. As with most things in investing, the truth

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   Several summers ago, I hiked to the summit of Mount Bierstadt in Colorado—one of the state’s more popular fourteeners. The climb up was challenging yet straightforward: a wide trail, a steady pace and clear footing. But the real adventure came next. From Bierstadt’s peak, I crossed the narrow “Sawtooth” ridge that connects to Mount Evans.   The Sawtooth isn’t for the faint of heart. On on

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   When the world feels uncertain — inflation high, government debt ballooning, central banks under pressure — investors tend to look beyond the dollar for a safety net. Gold, the age-old hedge, often leads that retreat. But to understand why, you must see them not as speculative gambles, but as symptoms of a deeper impulse: the urge to preserve value when faith in paper money wavers.   Gold

Inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% target, but signs of a cooling labor market — slower job creation, rising jobless claims — appear to have convinced policymakers that keeping rates elevated may do more harm than good.

For nearly a century, September has been the S&P 500’s weakest month. Since 1928, the index has averaged a decline of just over one percent and has finished lower more than half the time...

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   Since bottoming out in April, the U.S. stock...

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   When I was a kid, I used to watch “The Beverly...

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management.   I was talking with my wife over coffee this...

But in today's economic environment, many question whether the traditional 60/40 mix still holds up. Here's why this once-iconic strategy may no longer be good enough.

The stock market, it seems, has had a similar streak — from cold to hot in record time. After a sharp and unsettling drop in early April...

It struck me how much this moment mirrors the decision facing investors right now. Wall Street is at a crossroads—and it's not a gentle fork in a well-worn trail.

Like in pinball, success in this environment doesn't come from trying to control every bounce. It comes from knowing how to play the game...

Investors are no different during turbulent markets. When stock prices fall, the headlines are scary, and emotions run high...

Much like a golf cart navigating the course, the economy is constantly adjusting to changing conditions.

As of February 12, 2025, the U.S. economy and stock market are navigating a complex landscape shaped by recent policy decisions, inflation..

The Fed matters, but has it been getting too much attention? Since the Fed's announcement, the 10-year yield has risen, not fallen.