Dear (Contact First Name),
Bruce Feiler wrote an article called Family, Inc. in the Wall Street Journal recently that we found fascinating and want to share it with you.
Surveys show that parents and kids feel that stress is their number one concern. In today's fast-paced, hectic and scheduled world, parents are bringing home business techniques to help organize and maximize the quality time with their family. Here are a few take-aways from the article.
- Information Radiators: Large public boards where everyone in the family writes down what they're doing, and checks off the chores they have done.
- Family Meetings: Sit down together and ask three questions, 1) What went well in our family this week? 2) What didn't go well? 3) What will we agree to work on this week?
- Be flexible. Grown-ups, of course, don't know everything that is going to happen. "Do what your father says" does not mean dad has to know everything. However, with a few rules of the road we can all simplify the complexities and really focus on what is fun. (5)
P.S. this works with kids and grown-ups!
|
| Weekly Economic Update | |
RETAIL SALES RISE IN JANUARY
The increase was minimal - just 0.1% after the 0.5% advance in December - but still welcome in the face of the 2013 payroll tax hike and higher gas prices. Commerce Department data showed core retail sales (which exclude auto, gas and home improvement purchases) up 0.1% for January; they rose 0.7% in December.1
CONSUMERS REGAIN SOME OPTIMISM
January's preliminary consumer sentiment index from the University of Michigan showed real improvement - an increase of 2.5 points to a three-month peak of 76.3. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected a reading of 74.8. The index averaged just 64.2 during the 2007-2009 recession.2
GOLD FALLS $26 IN A DAY
The precious metal slipped 1.6% Friday and 3.4% for the week to a Friday close of $1,609.50 on the COMEX, recovering a bit from an intraday dip under $1,600. NYMEX crude futures eked out a 0.1% weekly gain, settling at $95.86 Friday.3
S&P 500 ADVANCES FOR A SEVENTH STRAIGHT WEEK
When was the last time the S&P started a year with a seven-week win streak? 1967. That achievement aside, it hasn't had a winning streak this long in more than two years. The S&P gained 0.12% across five trading days to settle at 1,519.79 Friday, while the Dow saw its second straight weekly retreat (-0.08% to 13,981.76) and the NASDAQ (-0.06% to 3,192.03) also logged a slight weekly decline. The CBOE VIX ended the week at 12.46.3,4 |
| Market Summary |
|
% Change |
Y-T-D |
1Yr Chg |
5-Year Avg | |
DJIA |
+6.70 |
+9.40 |
+2.65 | |
NASDAQ |
+5.71 |
+9.47 |
+7.50 | |
S&P 500 |
+6.56 |
+13.14 |
+2.52 |
(Source: cnbc.com, usatoday.com, treasury.gov, treasurydirect.gov -02/15/13). Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are unmanaged, and investors cannot invest in them directly. |
|
Create a beautiful week!
Karl Frank, MBA, MSF
Certified Financial Planner (R)
A & I Financial Services LLC
303.690.5070
Citations:
1 - www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/13/usa-economy-retail-
idUSL1N0BCCZM20130213 [2/13/13]
2 - www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-15/u-s-michigan-consumer-
sentiment-index-rose-to-76-3-in-february.html [2/15/13]
3 - www.nasdaq.com/article/dow-closes-a-second-week-in-the-red-despite-late-rally-cm218372 [2/15/13]
4 - www.cnbc.com/id/100463705 [2/15/13]
5 - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014241278873234
52204578288192043905634.html?
04578288192043905634?mg=reno64-wsj
Securities offered through Geneos Wealth Management, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through A & I Financial Services LLC, registered investment advisor.
|
|
|
|
|
| Words for Thought |
"A friend is one who walks in when others walk out."
Walter Winchell
|
|
Riddle of the Week
|
If a single-engine airplane taxied not onto a runway, but onto an enormous conveyer belt whose speed precisely equaled that of the plane in the opposite direction, could the plane still manage to take off?
Last week's riddle:
Two men played five games of chess in the park. They both won the same number of games, yet none of the games they played ended in a draw. So how could this be?
Last week's answer:
They didn't play each other. |
|
|
