Mr. Mike Sharples, who serves on our board, recently wrote an intriguing blog that uses a basketball analogy to explain the stock indexes, investment risk, while providing some valuable insights about the future. I enjoy investing and watching basketball (I am too old and short to play), so I wanted to share it with you. Thanks Mike for giving us permission to do so. MORE

I hope our readers had a terrific Christmas and are enjoying a prosperous beginning to 2018. Economic growth exceeds 3%. Unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 2000. Personal incomes are increasing. Inflation remains low, but there are signs inflation is increasing because wage increases continue to outpace inflation. Consumer confidence dropped slightly in December, but remains close to the high it achieved in November because consumers are slightly more pessimistic about business an MORE

A bitcoin could be purchased for $1,000 on January 1st, 2017 and sold for $14,377 on December 31st, yielding over a 1,338% return. The currency took a dip at the end of the year. Had an investor sold at its peak of $20,089 on December 17th, her return would equal 1,909%! Bitcoin is a digital currency that has an electronic payment system. It was created in 2009 and has sparked increasing interest as more retailers choose to accept bitcoin for payment. MORE