Insights

Typically, the month of August has not been friendly to equity investors. Even though we have seen eight new all-time closing highs for the S&P 500 during August alone, the daily give and take has left the index flat month-to-date. Still, the number of record closing highs have been quite impressive this year. Last Monday’s closing high was the 49th year-to-date. With no significant pullbacks, this leaves the index up 18.4% on a total return basis as of yesterday’s close.

Were you one of the tens of millions of American families to receive the first monthly installment of the 2021 Enhanced Child Tax Credit? Are you just as confused as the rest of the country as to what it is or what to do? Don’t worry; you are not alone. The questions and uncertainty have left many taxpayers feeling confused.

The S&P 500 continues to make new highs, with the market up over 17% this year (including dividends) and up about 38% over the past 12 months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is around 35,000, while it touched 30,000 for the first time this past November.

Let’s start with the FBI definition of ransomware: Ransomware is a type of malicious software, or malware, that encrypts data on a computer making it unusable. A malicious cybercriminal holds the data hostage until the ransom is paid. If the ransom is not paid, the victim’s data remains unavailable. Cybercriminals may also pressure the victims to pay the ransom by threatening to destroy the victim’s data or to release it to the public.

We take a deeper dive into one part of the services we offer that includes planning, investments, business services, and taxes. We take you behind the scenes into our Investment Department, where we research stocks on a weekly basis. For the written transcript or to view the video, please click READ MORE below.

If you have children under 18 in your household, you could be receiving an enhanced tax credit for the 2021 tax year. Here's what you need to know about this one-time change to the child tax credit.

Although it has not been a straight path higher, the S&P 500 index has logged 29 new record closing highs year-to-date. Retail investors have perhaps been emboldened, as the financial channels continue to spotlight the parabolic moves of latest “meme” stock(s) targeted by the WallStreetBets and other Reddit crowd traders.

Too often we find ourselves reading articles that predict financial doomsday or that have headlines designed to scare the reader into action or submission. In a world filled with non-stop news reporting and endless platforms to promote ideas, sell products, and gain attention, it can be very difficult to determine what is important and true.

Buckingham Advisors is sponsoring Operation Cherrybend, an annual event for combat-wounded veterans. Learn more about this event.

Inflation concerns are rising. So, for this newsletter, we will focus on consumer inflation and the CPI, or Consumer Price Index. There are many variations of CPI, including month-over-month, year-over-year, seasonally adjusted, and with or without food and energy prices.