The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) controls the adjustments of tax brackets and standard deductions, and annually makes tax code adjustments based on the cost of living factors, congressional demands, and inflation. The adjustment for 2023, due to 40-year highs in inflation (with inflation currently sitting at 8.2%), was abnormally high. Thresholds for each tax bracket […]
Since the early 2010s, the percentage of the U.S. population made up of retirees grew at a fairly constant rate. However, this rate spiked at the start of the pandemic: and in the first year since the pandemic, an extra 1.3% of the population have retired, approximately 3.6 million more retirees. For comparison, the average […]
During the Great Resignation in 2021, when significantly high numbers of workers quit their jobs, many turned to remote work and self-employment. The cultural zeitgeist of the time promoted worker confidence in the ability to work for themselves, leading to a spike in the self-employed workforce and fed the resignation trend. By late 2021, the […]
Mortgage rates hit above 7% by the end of October, the highest since 2002. Such high mortgage rates can deter new homebuyers, adding significant long term costs that many potential buyers would rather avoid. Sellers are forced to come down on home prices if they want to attract buyers. As a result, home prices experienced […]
U.S. equity markets rebounded in October with the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq indices all posting gains for the month. Technology, health care, and financial stocks were the largest contributors to the S&P 500 Index, but these sectors have begun to see significant headwinds in the past couple of weeks. U.S. dollar strength weakened […]
The US midterm elections have commanded significant attention in the recent news cycle, but many consequential economic issues are continuing to develop. The Fed has continued on its steepest rate increase since the early 1980s. Political pushback against the Federal Reserve has been building as criticism surrounding the rate hikes has become a focal issue. […]
The Fed Funds Rate, which is controlled by the Federal Reserve Board (also known as the Fed), is the interest rate at which banks charge each other to borrow money, which also sets the baseline interest rate at which banks and other financial institutions can charge to consumers, which makes loans and credit card debt […]
The European economy is currently experiencing turbulence due to the Ukrainian conflict and Russian supply cuts. Meanwhile, soaring interest rate hikes in the US have bolstered the strength of the dollar, creating a situation where the British pound and Euro are trading at historic lows against the US Dollar. 2022 marked the first time the […]
Unemployment claims have been rising since bottoming in March this year, and have climbed back up, causing concern. By mid-July, initial unemployment claims had bounced back up to 262,000, their highest since last November. While new claims have retreated slightly, unemployment claims continue to remain elevated from their lows. The upward trend in new unemployment […]
With Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations for investing growing in broad acceptance and understanding, investors should understand how it affects the investment landscape as well as their own investments. ESG is a financial and investment philosophy where investors inspect these non-traditional aspects of companies, in addition to traditional fundamental and technical analyses. Environmental considerations […]
The risk of loss in trading commodities can be substantial. You should therefore carefully consider whether such trading is suitable for you in light of your financial condition. The high degree of leverage that is often obtainable in commodity trading can work against you as well as for you. The use of leverage can lead to large losses as well as gains. In some cases, managed commodity accounts are subject to substantial charges for management and advisory fees. It may be necessary for those accounts that are subject to these charges to make substantial trading profits to avoid depletion or exhaustion of their assets.
The disclosure document contains a complete description of the principal risk factors and each fee to be charged to your account by the Commodity Trading Advisor ("CTA"). The regulations of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") require that prospective clients of a CTA receive a disclosure document when they are solicited to enter into an agreement whereby the CTA will direct or guide the client's commodity interest trading and that certain risk factors be highlighted. This document is readily accessible at this site. This brief statement cannot disclose all of the risks and other significant aspects of the commodity markets. Therefore, you should proceed directly to the disclosure document and study it carefully to determine whether such trading is appropriate for you in light of your financial condition.
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