Insights

First Quarter 2014|Jim Williams| The recent release of the book Flash Boys by Michael Lewis has stirred some amount of curiosity and concern about the fairness of the financial markets. Lewis’s story creates the impression that all who participate in the stock market are being victimized by the firms that do High Frequency Trading (HFTs). He has been promoting the book on various media (including a recent 60 Minutes segment), claiming that the stock market is “rigged” in favor of HFTs. After reading the book, I needed to get a better understanding of how our primary mutual fund companies view the impacts of HFT and the environment for trading in general. I spoke with our Vanguard rep and with one of the traders at Dimensional Funds (DFA).

Fourth Quarter 2013|Jim Williams| 2013 will be remembered as the year the sky stayed aloft, despite all predictions. With all the bad things that were supposed to happen and that were supposed to drive the financial markets into a tizzy; or a series of tizzies, who would have thought that the equities markets would produce the best year in 16 years? It's probably best not to expect another year like 2013 anytime soon. What are the lessons we learned?

Third Quarter 2013|Jim Williams| A few weeks ago, something occurred that we are proud of. The Nobel committee announced that University of Chicago Professor and Dimensional Fund Advisors board member Eugene F. Fama, has been named a co-recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, in recognition for his contributions to the “empirical analysis of asset prices.”

Second Quarter 2013|Jim Williams| The markets were reacting to recent comments by Fed Chairman Bernanke, signaling that the Fed’s easing policy will be tapered off or pared back only if economic and financial conditions improve. This last signal was somewhat of a retraction of the previous Fed statement saying the central bank plans to slow the pace of asset purchases. The easing policy has held interest rates down at historically low levels. In the context of a national debt exceeding $17 trillion, we have to wonder if the debt level is a problem. Let’s consider.

First Quarter 2013|Jim Williams| There is now a proposal to limit retirement accounts to about $3.4 million. My first reaction to this bit of news was quite negative. But then I started thinking about it and I realized that this is just a way of helping us do better financial planning. Yes, really. Read on.

Fourth Quarter 2012|Jim Williams| Earlier this month, a gridlocked Washington managed to pass a tax bill. After twelve years of uncertainty about tax rates at the end of the "Bush tax cuts" which were always temporary, tax rates are "permanent."