The S&P 500 index fell 1.95% this week in a technology-led decline as the September unemployment rate came in higher than expected. The market benchmark ended Friday's session at 6,602.99. It is now down 3.5% for November but up 12% for the year. September payrolls in the US rose by 119,000, more than the 51,000 increase expected, but roughly equal to the typical expansion of the labor force in any month. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4%, the highest since October 2021,

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1% this week as gains led by health care and energy stocks slightly outweighed declines in sectors including consumer discretionary and utilities. The market benchmark ended Friday's session at 6,734.11 and is still in the red for November with a month-to-date drop of 1.6%. The index is up 14% for the year. This week featured the end of a 43-day government shutdown, the longest federal closure in US history. While the government has reopened, inv

The S&P 500 index fell 1.6% this week, led by the technology sector, as consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest level in three years. The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at 6,728.80. This marks its first weekly loss since the week ended on October 10. The index is up 14% year-to-date. Economic readings have been sparse for the past month as the government shutdown has delayed multiple reports. Preliminary results from one report that came in this week -- the US consumer sent

The following was originally posted to the Your Best Path Blog about 7 years ago, long before our merger with Silverstone Financial. Today I have edited the piece for clarity. The views expressed here are solely my own and do not represent Silverstone Financial. -- Gordon Achtermann The following uses Bitcoin as the standard-bearer for all cryptocurrencies. While I am most familiar with Bitcoin, I believe most of the arguments below apply to all the various flavors of crypto