We are already seeing some of that pressure show up in stock valuations. The S&P 500's forward price-to-earnings ratio has fallen to around 19 times expected earnings.

I know this sounds a lot like “walking to school uphill both ways,” but rates have been a lot higher than they are right now.

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. A recent viral video showed someone putting weight on top of a single-filled plastic Coke bottle. It was amazing to watch them keep adding steel plate after steel plate, yet the Coke bottle kept holding up without collapsing, even up to 1,220 pounds. As the video continues, I wondered, “How long can this thing hold up?” Many are asking the same question about the market right now.

Dr. Richard Baker, AIF®, is the CEO and executive wealth advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. When my wife and I were first married, I worried about storms. Of course, our incomes were low, and any damage from wind or a leak would have certainly shocked our budget. Most nights I would lie awake nervous about what I’d find the next morning. I think a lot of young investors feel that way right now as they live with higher interest rates than they ever have, and it is impacti

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. As second-quarter earnings season comes to a close, the financial media continues to focus almost exclusively on artificial intelligence and the handful of mega-cap technology companies driving the market higher. While those businesses remain impressive, they are no longer the most interesting story. What has caught my attention is the growing number of companies outside the technology se

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. On Monday morning, my wife dropped our 10-year-old son off at church camp. It’s his first time spending four nights away from home. Throughout the day I kept thinking about all the things I couldn't control. Would he make friends? Would he remember to put on sunscreen? Would he sleep well? As parents, our minds naturally drift toward every possible scenario.Then it hit me: investing often

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. Summer temperatures are heating up, and so is second-quarter earnings season. This week, all eyes are on Alphabet and Tesla as they report quarterly results. While both companies are always market movers, this time investors may be paying less attention to the earnings numbers themselves and more attention to what management says about artificial intelligence. The AI race has become inc

I am more in favor of U.S. stocks over international stocks.

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. This morning started differently than I expected. My daughter has been dealing with a virus for several days, and after a virtual visit with her doctor, we learned she may have chicken pox. As any parent knows, moments like that come with a lot of uncertainty. Are you sure it’s chickenpox? How severe will it be? How long will recovery take? Will anyone else in the house get sick? You don'

The S&P 500 recently posted its longest winning streak in more than a year, closing at new record highs as investors continue pouring money into equities.

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.

Joe Shearrer, CPFA® is Vice President and Wealth Advisor at Fervent Wealth Management. Last weekend, I had one of those rounds of golf that didn’t make much sense on paper. Typically, my strength is putting, the part of my game I rely on to save strokes and stay consistent. But this time, it was the opposite. My driver was dialed in, my irons were sharp, and I was giving myself great looks all day. The problem? I couldn’t make a putt. It was a good reminder that performan