If you have been reading the market headlines this week, Gamestop and AMC's meteoric stock price increases have been in the news as the "revenge of retail" makes it's mark on the hedge fund industry. This incident has rattled the markets along with a more circumspect re-examination of expectations for a second half 2021 economic recovery given the new South Africa COVID-19 variant and delays in the vaccination supply. The dizzying rallies in Gamestop alongside new market highs and souring expectations has given pause for thought. Have the markets come too far, too soon!

In one of our earlier articles, we outlined why we think that 2021 could be a strong year for the market based on the massive stimulus that has been injected into the economy coupled with close to zero interest rates. We also noted that delays with the vaccination roll out and potential mutations could prolong the "COVID Blues" and delay an expected economic recovery. There are other potential issues such as an escalation of economic tensions with China. These "uncertainties" provide ample fodder for market corrections in a likely continuation of the bull market.

One Professor, Jeremy Siegel, author of "Stocks for the long run" shares a similar ooutlook and is not blinking an eye in the midst of this market correction, standing firm with his latest prediction that the Dow will reach at least 35,000 in 2021.

First of all, Happy New Year to you! May we all look forward to seeing COVID in the rear mirror at some point in 2021. No doubt, getting enough of the population vaccinated will take longer than we all hope, but it will happen and science will help us put COVID behind us. There is a known variant circulating, first identified in South Afria and then in the UK and Europe and now in the USA. While it is not certain whether the current vaccines on the market account for this variant, they will find a vaccine for this one too if the current vaccines do not.

Due to the inevitable mutations of viruses, it is quite possible (but still unknown) that we may need to get a COVID vaccine each year to ensure we have maximum protection from potential variants. While this is something none of us look forward to, it is no doubt better than the alternative. Obviously medical science is far from perfect and there will always be a small percentage of people who have adverse events to any vaccine. However this is just about the case with every medicine on the planet. The majority will benefit.

The certainty of a vaccine alongside a more unknown supply and vaccination schedule means it is just a matter of time before we return to a new normal. How much time is the unknown.

We are dedicating todays Blog article to the US Dollar and how it has been tracking almost inversely to the US stock market this year. At the height of the COVID onslaught in March and April of 2020, we saw a steep rise in the US dollar to a new 3 year high as investors rushed to safety in the worlds reserve currency while US and global markets fell in rapid succession as the impact, risk and global spread of COVID was priced into the markets. Conversely, as stock markets rallied back to their pre-COVID highs we have seen the dollar steadily fall. A vast injection of liquidity by the Federal Reserve which dwarfed Bernanke's quanititative easing during 2007-2009 eased concerns, risk and pressures on the financial system which in conjunction with close to zero interest rates has fuelled a wave of money seeking higher yields.

At some point in the future, the Fed will reign in its uber generous bond-buying and liquidity injections. However, that point is unlikely to arrive in the next two years which means that investors appetite for seeking yield is unlikely to taper off until that point. An IPO boom coupled with strong market growth is likely to continue into 2021 not-withstanding any new black swan events.

A weaker dollar eased conditions after the 2007/8 financial crisis and it appears that this trend will be mirrored in 2021/2022. We expect the US economy to pick up considerable steam as we come out of a brutal 2020/2021 Winter and optimism around emerging post-COVID lifts people's spirits and business investment. A strong US economy coupled with a weaker dollar and close to zero interest rates should provide the impetus for the stock market to perform well.

In a sea of constantly moving variables, navigating the markets (an art and science unto itself) and your financial future ( think taxation, IRA's, life insurance, pensions, other critical insurance, the amount needed for your retirement, estate planning) and the situation can be over-whelming. We cannot see the future, so at best we can imperfectly try to predict it based on historic data and patterns that can often repeat.

In order to successfully navigate and compute all of the above variables and potential changes so that you can both protect and maximize your financial future, you need an uncommonly clear head which comes from experience, expertise, knowledge and the ability to adapt. It's not unlike any profession. However, when it comes to your finances the wrong decisions can have an irreversible impact on your life and loved one's.

As a former airline pilot many years ago, you qickly learn there is no room for "error". The entire process from take-off to landing requires meticulous attention to detail and any flaws in judgement can have life and death implications. This training has served me well over the 28 years of my financial advisory career. We have a significant ammount of money under management for our clients and this alongside each families complex financial situation and requirements requires precise calculations, ongoing calibration and clear navigation.

Moving Averages are simple but powerful indcators for investors as they reflect a prevailing trend in the price of a stock, fund or indices, over the short, mid and long term. They can be used alone or in combination with technical analysis or Dow Theory, for example, to chart both primary trends and secondary counter cyclical trends.

There are two principal moving averages used by investors:

1. A Simple Moving Average is a historic weighted average price indicator for a stock, fund or market indices. The objective is to provide an average weighted indicator of the stock price that evens out daily or weekly fluctuations in price. A simple moving average takes the artihmetic "mean" of historic prices over a set period of time whether that is 9, 15, 20, 50, 100 or 200 or more days in the past.