 Headlines
- Oil Rallies to a One Month High on Hopes for Output Freeze
- Home Builder Sentiment Edges Up 2 Points in August
- National Guard Activated After Night of Unrest in Milwaukee
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Evaluating Professional Advice: 11 Questions to Answer Before You Commit
Obtaining professional advice is a significant step and should not be  approached lightly. As with investors and their objectives and constraints, professional advisors also differ in their philosophy, processes, services, education, experience, and their ability to add value.
Professional advisors work in many fields and hold various titles, such as investment advisor, financial planner, accountant, estate planner, insurance agent, and stockbroker. Over the last few years, most professional advisors have seen their roles expand and now the lines among them have become greatly blurred.
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The Markets
How do you measure stock market valuation?
If you look at conventional measures - like price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios -  then U.S. stock markets appear to be pricey. The Wall Street Journal reported trailing 12-month P/E ratios are high when compared to 10-year averages. High P/E ratios haven't dampened investors' interest in U.S. stocks, and share prices have been moving higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow), Standard & Poor's 500 Index, and NASDAQ all reached new highs last Thursday - the first time that has happened since 1999.
More 'Market Commentary' here.
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By the Numbers
Notes: S&P 500, Gold, DJ-UBS Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are annualized ... more important disclosure mentions found here. (We urge you to read the entire disclosure statement.)
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