Your Advisor's Thoughts

A 5.9 Earthquake and a Category 2 Hurricane...

All of us on the East Coast are being reminded this week that some natural disasters can be anticipated, and others cannot. When the unexpected occurs, individual reactions may vary widely, as we discovered last Tuesday in the “Your Best Interest” office. During the earthquake, each of us reacted differently: one of us moved under a doorway, some jumped up to run outside, and one (the native Californian in the bunch) crawled under her desk. Phil calmly continued on with his appointment, appearing slightly amused by the collective alarm.

As if the earthquake weren’t enough for one week, the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene quickly moved to the top of the headlines! Local authorities and news outlets stressed the importance of making appropriate preparations for the expected torrential rain and high winds.

Our financial markets have been rocked recently as well. As with natural disasters, we each respond to these “financial tremors” differently. Some are tempted to run away, some stand their ground, and still others look for opportunities.

At “Your Best Interest” Financial Services, we understand that everyone has a different comfort zone when navigating the financial marketplace. Personal risk tolerance does not fluctuate with the market, but sometimes our feeling of uneasiness does. We are here to help you proactively create your individualized investment strategy and then encourage you to stay the course with professional guidance, perspective and objective assessment of the market.

Stay tuned…

Greg

You can contact Greg at his
office by calling 610-485-1010.

Greg Teal is an investment advisor representative of Trustmont Advisory Group, Inc. 200 Brush Run Road,
Greensburg, PA 15601. Trustmont can be contacted by calling 724-468-5665

Should You Focus on 11-Month Losses or 12-Month Gains?

In case you have been living under a rock, let me inform you that throughout the past few weeks the stock market has been rather unpredictable. To put it in technical terms, it has been absolutely crazy! Month to date the S&P 500 index is down 7.6%. We have seen huge increases and declines over days, and even hours at times!

A sharp increase in volatility will make even ultra-long term investors squeamish. This is exactly the time, however, to fight our natural urges to flee despite the talking heads on TV who cry that the sky is falling. The United States of America is no different today than it was three weeks ago. Our national potential is truly amazing despite such valid concerns as debt, unemployment issues, and even occasional political silliness.

In light of the current climate, let me give you a few of my thoughts in a nutshell...

• The current stock market conditions are a "normal occurrence"
• We are not facing imminent default
• We will not be overtaken by another country any time soon
• I see no signs of an impending recession
• Conventional wisdom says to avoid commodities at historically high values: currently this means gold and silver

My crystal ball is currently in for repairs, therefore I am not willing to venture a guess at the duration of the current spike in market volatility or valuation decline. I am confident that patience will pay off in investing appropriately for your individual time horizon and risk preference. As a part of our service to our clients, we manage risk levels and invest appropriately. If you feel there is too much risk in your portfolio, please call us so that we can discuss your individual situation.

Stay tuned for more!

Greg

You can contact Greg at his office by calling 610-485-1010.

Greg is an investment advisor representative of Trustmont Advisory Group, Inc. 200 Brush Run Road, Greensburg, PA 15601. Trustmont can be contacted by calling 724-468-5665

 

Welcome, Jen!

I am pleased to introduce you to the newest member of the “Your Best Interest” family: Jen Myers has joined our team as the Marketing Coordinator. You’ll be hearing from Jen regularly regarding new services and educational opportunities coming soon! At Your Best Interest Financial Services, service is our biggest asset, and we anticipate serving our current clients with even better communication as well as developing new relationships as we promote all the distinctives that set us above and apart from the crowd.

In addition to Jen’s new responsibilities at Your Best Interest, she is a wife and mom. Jen and Jeff have been married 17 years, and have 2 children, Ian and Bekah… both of whom will be in Middle School this year. Jeff and Jen are anticipating that it will be an adventure!

Jen enjoys rose gardening and baking, and we have heard that she has a special fondness for chocolate! We are eager to personally evaluate some of her favorite recipes in the (hopefully) near future. Jen also is involved with the women’s ministry at her church, Faith Community in Brookhaven.

We are here to serve you, and we always enjoy the opportunity to make a personal connection. Jen looks forward to meeting you the next time you are here in the office or at an upcoming event. Stay tuned!

With warmest regards,

Phil

This is a guest blog entry by Philip M. Giambri, President of "Your Best Interest" Financial Services, Inc. Phil is a Registered Representative for Trustmont Financial/Advisory Group, Member FINRA/SIPC