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Clearly, Not Everyone Is Getting Rich Off The Stock Market

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Well, the NY Fed was out today with its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for Q4 2017. Clearly, Americans are in a lot of debt. Take a look. Just a couple of quick hits from the report. Total U.S. household debt rose $193 billion in the 4th quarter, to a new all-time peak of $13.15 trillion. That's 17.9% above the most recent trough in Q2 2013. Broken down by segment, what do you suppose was the largest gain in percentage terms? Credit cards, with a 3.2% increase. In the picture above, the widening gap represented by the red arrows reflects the fact that non-housing debt is rising at a faster pace than housing debt. Here's what's troubling about that. Below is a picture of the stock market, as represented by the S&P 500 index, over that same period; from the most recent credit trough in Q2 2013 to the end of 2017. And thus, the title of this article. Over that period, the S&P 500 index rose by 75%; from roughly 1,600 to 2,800. Apparently, ho...
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UPDATE: BlackRock Announces The Cheapest ETF Ever

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In previous articles for both Seeking Alpha and this blog, I have analyzed the iShares Core S&P Total Market ETF (ITOT).

BlackRock, Inc. recently announced huge changes to this ETF, effective December 18, 2015. First, at least for a short time, it became the cheapest ETF ever offered to the public. Secondly, it will be tied to a much broader index going forward, one that in my view much more accurately reflects the total U.S. market.

In a new article for Seeking Alpha, I take an in-depth look at all of these changes. Particularly if you are a Fidelity Brokerage client, I encourage you to check out my analysis. If you have ignored ITOT in the past in favor of competing ETFs, this article may encourage you to take a second look.

Author's Note: If you find my work valuable, I would be greatly indebted if you would take a minute to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. My goal is for my work to remain entirely free of cost to my readers, and growing my following such that I generate an increasing number of page views will hopefully allow me to keep it this way.

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Clearly, Not Everyone Is Getting Rich Off The Stock Market

By -
Image
Well, the NY Fed was out today with its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for Q4 2017. Clearly, Americans are in a lot of debt. Take a look. Just a couple of quick hits from the report. Total U.S. household debt rose $193 billion in the 4th quarter, to a new all-time peak of $13.15 trillion. That's 17.9% above the most recent trough in Q2 2013. Broken down by segment, what do you suppose was the largest gain in percentage terms? Credit cards, with a 3.2% increase. In the picture above, the widening gap represented by the red arrows reflects the fact that non-housing debt is rising at a faster pace than housing debt. Here's what's troubling about that. Below is a picture of the stock market, as represented by the S&P 500 index, over that same period; from the most recent credit trough in Q2 2013 to the end of 2017. And thus, the title of this article. Over that period, the S&P 500 index rose by 75%; from roughly 1,600 to 2,800. Apparently, ho...
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Has Starbucks Lost Its Way?

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