Welcome to my first newsletter! This is a new adventure for me, following my life-long dream of writing a novel. MONEY GRAB, my first financial thriller, will be published in May 2017.
In each newsletter, I’ll include useful and fun information:
- Financial information you can use in your personal investing
- Recommendations of mysteries/thrillers that I like
- Suggestions for interesting places to travel
|
|
|
I would love to hear your comments and suggestions on all three topics. Please email me at fjaylor@hastingsbaycapital.com.
|
|
Will the January Effect Fizzle in February?
|
|
The stock market has been on a tear since the presidential election in November, up 10% as of January 27 and passing DOW 20,000, which has newscasters all a-twitter.
|
|
|
Dow Jones Industrial Average, TD Ameritrade
|
|
While the market doesn’t always go up in January, it often does, as I explain in my novel MONEY GRAB:
|
|
This morning the office smelled faintly of lemon, that clean orderliness of hope that the few first days of January always offered up, when the holiday clutter was packed away and bold New Year’s resolutions made a fresh start seem possible. The market even had a name for it -- the January effect -- when fresh investor optimism, the end of the previous year’s tax selling, and new money flooding into retirement accounts often sent the stock market soaring.
|
|
|
The market is anticipating higher economic growth and new infrastructure spending as President Trump implements some of his campaign promises.
So, will this upward momentum last? Or should you trim your stock holdings and lock in some profits?
Personally, I’m cautious. Since 1950, the February following a presidential election has typically been a weak month for the stock market. While stocks have run up in anticipation of strong economic growth, it will take a while for new policies to translate into corporate earnings. My fear is that investors will get impatient if companies don’t show strong growth right away, causing a pullback in the market. I’ve selectively taken profits on stocks that have had especially strong runs and appear to be fully valued.
What are your thoughts here? Are you cashing out, or joining in the momentum? Tell me what you think on Facebook.
|
|
I just read psychological thriller BLUE MONDAY by Nicci French, which drew me in so much that I read the entire book in two days.
It’s the story of Londoner Alan Dekker, haunted by dreams of a freckled, red-haired boy, the son he always wanted but could never have. When psychotherapist Freida Klein discovers the boy’s description matches that of little Matthew Faraday, who has just been kidnapped, she alerts the police. They realize the case mirrors that of five-year-old Joannie Vine, who was kidnapped twenty years before and never found.
|
|
|
A tale of dysfunctional families and shattering loss, BLUE MONDAY has plot twists that will keep you guessing until the very end.
What mysteries are you reading? Tell me on Facebook.
|
|
Bayeaux and the Normandy Coast
|
|
Remember studying the Bayeaux Tapestry in school? It tells the story of the Norman conquest of England by William the Conquerer at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. (MONEY GRAB takes place in the fictional southern city of Hastings, which takes its name from this famous battle.) The ancient embroidered fabric is 20” tall and 230’ long, displayed behind glass in a darkened climate-controlled room, with motion-activated narration to explain what you’re looking at.
|
|
Bayeaux is one of the few Norman towns that wasn’t destroyed by either the Americans or the Germans in World War II. We stayed on the third floor of the Villa Lara Hotel, directly across from the cathedral, consecrated in 1077 and famous for its beautiful stained glass windows.
|
|
|
Bayeaux Cathedral
|
|
Our tour guide for the Normandy beaches was Dale Booth, author of FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HEROES: D-DAY JUNE 6, 1944.
Dale did an amazing job of explaining the D-Day invasion onto Utah, Omaha, and other beaches, when young Allied solders, heavily weighted down by equipment, fighting seasickness in the rough waves, scrambled across the beaches under heavy fire.
Back at home we again watched SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, the 1998 war drama starring Tom Hanks. The movie was even more heart-rending after we had seen the beaches for ourselves and realized what an amazing feat that victory was.
|
|
Thank you for reading!
Look for MONEY GRAB in May 2017.
|
|
|
|