The Latest from Our Blog

Bank of America recently published the results of its March global asset managers’ survey, which polls 220 professional investors responsible for about $630 billion in assets, reported Julia La Roche of Yahoo! Finance. Many of those surveyed were optimistic about 2021. During the next 12 months: • 91 percent of those polled expect the economy to strengthen (that’s a record high) • 89 percent anticipate global profits will improve • 52 percent expect value stocks to outperform growth stocks

Investors Had A Lot To Be Enthusiastic About Last Week Major stock indices in the United States soared, finishing the week higher and setting new records along the way, reported Al Root of Barron’s. There was plenty of good news to fuel investor optimism: • The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed into law. The plan provides $1,400 payments to most Americans. It also delivers child-tax credits, health-insurance subsidies, and extends unemployment benefits into September, reported NPR. Funds also were made available for schools, states, and vaccination efforts, as well as tax relief for people receiving unemployment benefits.

Many Americans will be receiving third stimulus checks soon. Discover if you're eligible and get your biggest questions answered in this in-depth guide.

Neanderthal DNA may make people more – or less – susceptible to COVID-19, reported The Economist. It all depends on whether you have the genes and, if you do, which DNA string you inherited. No matter what your gene sequence looks like, vaccines can help fight the virus. So far, all of the vaccines available in the United States have proven to be effective in preventing hospitalization and death from coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). We saw the economic effect of accelerating vaccinations last week when the number of new jobs created in February exceeded expectations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported there were 379,000 new jobs, primarily in the leisure and hospitality sector, which was hard hit by the virus and lockdowns.

Contrarian investors like to buck the trend. They buy when other investors are selling and sell when others are buying. Last week, Bank of America (BofA) delivered a contrarian’s dream. BofA’s monthly survey of 225 global asset managers, who are responsible for $645 billion in assets under management, showed the managers were almost fully invested, according to CNBC. The survey showed asset managers’, “…cash levels at the lowest since March 2013, global equity allocations at a 10-year high, and a record number of respondents reporting taking a ‘higher than normal level of risk,” reported Randall Forsyth of Barron’s.

As a young boy growing up in northern Minnesota, I was surrounded by family who had a strong work ethic—and even stronger principles. From a young age I was required to work at the family-owned coffee processing and distribution company. It was extremely important to my family that I didn’t just complete a list of tasks, but that I understood how the business worked. Business and finance were always being discussed, and I soaked in all the information I could. I remember going with my grandfather, Arvid Peterson, to the local brokerage office in Duluth, Minnesota, to watch the ticker tape and check his stocks. Those early life lessons helped shape me into who I am today, and set me on the first steps down the path toward my lifelong career.