Trusted Financial Advisors’ Latest Commentary

Following the equity market volatility of the first half of 2025, investors saw a calmer third quarter that rewarded those who stayed invested. Spooked by the mini Crash of April, I’ve maintained a relatively high allocation to money market funds. While we seem to be on track for a typical year’s return in the 7% range, anything could change between now and December 31.

Investors have been paying close attention to the Federal Reserve, which, after much anticipation, delivered its long anticipated rate cut of 0.25% at its September meeting. Additional cuts remain possible, though Fed officials will continue to monitor key data points on inflation (which has steadied but remains above target) and employment (which presents a mixed picture, with low unemployment but slowing job growth).

The third quarter also saw passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), which brought greater clarity to the tax landscape for 2025 and beyond. For California clients and those in high tax states, the Bill expanded the cap on State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions from $10,000 to $40,000- good news for those who itemize on their tax return. The law is projected to add $3.4 trillion to the deficit over […]

Daily gyrations of financial markets continued into the first quarter culminating in an apparent bottom for the S&P 500 stock index on April 7. This was followed by a dramatic turnaround that few anticipated, and few believed. There was so much “noise” amplifying the usual uncertainty that accompanies investing, that protecting client assets appeared the responsible thing to do. Thus, a large portion of your portfolio remained in purchased money market funds earning a respectable return of a little greater than a 4% annual rate.

Here is a three month “Heat Map” to show relative performance of individual stocks. The size of the square indicates its performance and of course the color green is for a positive return:

Source: Charles Schwab & Co, Inc.

Most Trusted Financial clients owned winners like Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia and Meta which did well, but in many cases, I’d reduced the holding out of caution, before the turnaround. Apple and Google were weak. We abandoned Google, and I am doubtful about re-entering the position given that some 2/3 of its revenue and earnings come from web search, which is now being seriously challenged by competing artificial intelligence driven […]