Weekly Update: Good morning! Happy Monday! The news is a bit difficult to watch or read.  The main focus is both medical and political. The Coronavirus that started in Wuhan, China, has grown substantially over the past week.  China is now reporting just under 3,000 people infected, and sadly 80 deaths.  Reports show the virus now in several other countries, including 5 cases in the USA. On the political front,

Weekly Update: Good morning! Happy Monday! One infamous quote that I seem always remember is that there are two things in life that are certain, death and taxes.  Let’s skip over the death side and on to the tax side. I was driving to our office Saturday morning to make sure the ‘biblical’ rains we were having were not finding their way into the office (thankfully, they were not).  As

Weekly Update: Good morning! Happy 2020! All of us at McQueen Financial Advisors are excited for a fun and prosperous 2020. We hope you have set strong personal and professional goals for 2020.  Financially speaking, 2020 has been good thus far, although the saber-rattling between the USA and Iran is causing some angst in the markets. As we look forward to the new year, we wish you the best for

Weekly Update: Good morning! Happy end of 2019! All of us at McQueen Financial Advisors hope that 2019 ends on a high note, and we wish you a prosperous 2020.   Financially speaking, we end 2019 with record-high levels of the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq.  We are in the longest expansion ever recorded, and we have record low unemployment. Personally, and professionally, I use the year-end to measure last year’s

Weekly Update: Good morning! Happy holidays! All of us at McQueen Financial Advisors wish you and your loved ones a joyous holiday. Christmas is one of several holidays, and religious events celebrated this time of year, and we respect and celebrate all of them. What excites me are the two areas that I focus on during the holidays: One, I strive to encourage all family members to travel from near

Weekly Update: Good morning! This last week the US Government and China announced that they have a partial trade solution.  Tariffs on certain goods will slowly expire, which may be the beginning of the end of the tariff headlines that rock the market.  Although, there appears to be a lot missing from the agreement. The impeachment trials on President Trump continue in Washington, DC.  I believe it is safe to

Weekly Update: Good morning! The economy continues to move forward; the unemployment rate is at a new record low rate of 3.5% due to an estimated 7 million jobs created in the last three years. Wages have improved, with the average hourly earnings growing at a 3.1% annualized pace.  Additionally, job openings (positions currently open) are closer to 4.5%, which results in a net shortage of workers. When everyone has

Weekly Update: Good morning! It is time to put up the Christmas tree and let the festivities begin. It is officially December, which is also the time to focus on achieving 2019 budgets and planning on a good start to the 2020 budget. Budgeting can be difficult in this unique environment as daily tweets seem to modify peoples’ moods and spending habits.  It is a good practice to ensure that

Weekly Update: As we enter this holiday week, I recommend that we all pause and think about what we are thankful for.  We are all fortunate to live in this great country. McQueen Financial Advisors will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving and closed on Friday so we can all go shopping. Financial people love deals. It appears that everyone on our email list put an order in on their new

Weekly Update: Good morning and happy Monday! Enthusiasm was rampant in the stock market last week, as we reached a new record high.  Also, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned energy company Aramco is having an IPO.  The company is valued at $1.7 trillion, or a little below the goal of $2 trillion. On the obscure side of things, I (unfortunately) saw my first presidential campaign ad on television for the 2020 election.