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Update 9/11/2025

 

YAHOO FINANCE TODAY:


 

Update Guaranteed Investment Options Aug 26 2025

 

 

 Is an FDIC investment a viable alternative to stocks?

 

 

 

With the ups and downs of the markets, some investors prefer to be in risk free investments to avoid the stress of losing money.

That said, with interest rates off the zero percent floor we had seen since 2008 or so, there are options for risk free investing in both annuities and government guaranteed debt instruments.

We have covered annuities many times here on Money Matters but in a nutshell, you can purchase an annuity which gives you a portion of the stock market increase but have no downside at all. Think of it as gathering up vegetables in the garden and keeping them in the fridge.  The vegetables represent profits. The next year you get no vegetables but the third year you get some more.  The guaranteed annuities work kind of like that.

If the market goes up in year one, you get a portion of the increase. If the market goes down the next year, you keep what you made but don’t make any gains.

If the market goes up by the end of the third year, you get a portion of that and it is added to the first year’s profit.

Slowly your “profit” fridge can gather more and more vegetables but your “profits” can never be taken back.

Maybe some years you get vegetables and some years you don’t.

The point being, in up markets you make money. When the market drops, you make nothing but lose nothing. You get to keep your annual gains no matter what.  

There are many varieties of annuities and they are all different but I hope you get the picture. Annuities are NOT government guaranteed however. They are guaranteed by the issuing insurance company.

On the government guaranteed side, savings accounts are obviously an option. Certain banks offer up to 5% APR with requirements. Major banks might tread down a little less.

Check out bankrate.com or nerdwallet.com to compare. Make sure whatever and whoever you use that they are FDIC insured.

The downside of a savings account is rates are not locked in and gains can be taxable.

CDs are also available as well as Treasury bills and Treasury notes. T bills are short term (up to one year) and the T notes are offered for longer terms.

Although both are backed by the government in one form or another, there are some differences between CDs and Treasuries.

CDs are issued by banks and credit unions while treasuries are issued directly by the U.S. government.

CDs usually pay a fixed interest while T bills don’t pay interest but are sold at a discount and redeemed at face value when mature. T notes can pay semi-annual interest.

CDs are insured up to $250,000 per depositor and per bank. T Bills and notes have no such limitations so might be preferred for larger amounts.  

CDs and T bills/ notes if not kept to maturity may expose the buyer to a loss or gain of principal depending on what day to day interest rates do.

If kept to maturity however, the gains are fixed at time of purchase.

As for tax implications, this is the biggee.

CD interest can be taxable at federal, state and local levels while T Bills and T Notes are taxed at the federal level but may be exempt at the state/local level.

CDs might be the choice for safe, predictable returns and fit the short to medium term investor while T bills and T notes might yield a slightly higher return due to the tax implications.

T bills are sometimes used to park money short term while T notes might be better suited for the medium to longer term investor.

T bills and notes and even CDs are easily purchased through most financial institutions. You can start by asking your bank or stock brokerage firm.

Both CDs, T bills and T notes should carry no fees to purchase them.


In conclusion, you can also by T bill funds like a stock through your broker, but because of the mechanics of how they work, prices can vary day to day and you can lose money.

(end)    

(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS   (Regulations)    

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services.  Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com.

 

 


 

Update Aug 19 2025

 

 

 

If there is one thing I have learned over my many decades of life is that things we thought would change things forever never do.

I have lived through wars that I thought would never end, economic blow ups that were certain to end the financial `system` as we know it, Presidents that were too good to be true (and were) and the other kind as well.

No matter how bad or good things got, they always reverted off the extremes and delved back into normalcy, if there is such a thing.

Fast forward to today and we have a contentious political polarization, more foreign strife complete with bullets flying and people dying, inflation eating away at consumer pocket books and more weird things in general happening that make one think mankind will certainly be changed forever.

Not so and don’t worry too much about it I say.

Been there, done that and we always seem to survive as a species and the lights remain on.

I used to think and subsequently fear the many things that would pop up both economically and in life in general and never be able to see the forest through the trees. Whatever occurred seemed too dire and serious that I could not imagine that anything like what I was witnessing would work itself out so everything would be ok.

I would lose sleep, furl by brow and wring my hands along with the rest of the good people around me and be absolutely certain the end was near.

But it never came to pass.

What did pass was the thing I was so certain would never pass, and life went on as it always seems to.

I don’t know if its divine intervention, the intelligence of the human race or just the luck of the draw, but we seem to persist as a species and the markets seem to keep on chugging along, climbing the proverbial “wall of worry” as it is said.

Indeed, not only do the markets climb the proverbial wall of worry, seemingly life does too.

We fret as investors, we worry as dads and moms, sons and daughters, friends and neighbors and workers and bosses.

Seldom is the keel even, the winds steady and the seas calm. And if they are, we know another tempest is just off the port bow and we must be ever vigilant.

And so it goes with our markets today, our environment, our lives and our world.

Anytime I worry a bit TOO much, I remind myself that, whatever it is, this too will pass.

And it will.

I just know mankind likes to meddle with stuff, we strive for strife it seems, and we like to turn over apple carts and change things seemingly just for the sake of changing things.

And so it goes.

As economist John Maynard Keynes once implied way back in a 1923 musing of his: “in the end we are all dead”.

Not much comfort there, I know, but the jest of that matter seems to be don’t worry too much.

I think back to a line in the movie “Jurassic Park”, which seems to sum it all up. “Life finds a way”.

And it certainly seems to.

(end)    

(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS   (Regulations)    

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant

 

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Marc (530) 559 1214


 

Update

 

 
 
 
Fictional Letter to Customers?  
You be the judge..... 
 
 
 
Greetings!
Update and thoughts:

Hope you are having a wonderful summer. You may have noticed some sells in your account and some buys.  
We may have some pretty good gains comparatively and some great ones.
That said, inflation will not be solved and tariff impacts really haven’t been felt yet, as I have been saying, and in my opinion.
Political tensions are high both here and abroad. Stock valuations, in my opinion, are super stretched in some areas and the gains are being concentrated more and more in a few stocks and a few stocks only.
Making matters worse, even some of the leading household names are eroding like Apple, Amazon and others.
That said and as always, I tend to agree with Warren Buffett’s two rules of investing.
Rule 1: Don’t lose money
Rule 2; Don’t forget rule 1
And I firmly also agree with the famous quip by hedge fund manager, Paul Tudor Jones II:
“It’s not about how much money you make, but how much you don’t lose.”
Operating with this in mind, there are times where that strategy may not track the gains of the more reckless who don’t live by such. So be it.
It is better to be safer than not in my opinion.
I hold the belief that the market will give us a pullback, sooner if not later, and with possible gains made, and Treasury Bills paying 4.3% APR on a 3-month T bill, I will be selling stocks and adding T bills and similar funds that hold them.
Not all at once mind you, but if things fall, I will sell in pieces as things go down (IF as a caveat).
Keep in mind the steepest of rallies can come in prolonged bear (down) markets, so don’t be fooled when they occur and if they occur. I hold the opinion that the medium-term correction is coming. Some analysts think as I do so I am reading.
Or they may be reading me. J
Hey, it’s happened before!
In conclusion, fall is also the time of routs with September historically being the worst month.
This is not to make you worry. On the contrary, it should alleviate it.
We will see.
Feel free to reach back.
Thanks for listening and watching they markets so you don’t have to as always!
Sincerely,
Marc
 
 
 
Berkshire Hathaway operating earnings dip 4% as conglomerate braces for tariff impact
Published Sat, Aug 2 20258:25 AM EDT
Updated Sat, Aug 2 20258:52 AM EDT
 

 

 

Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. May include forward looking statements. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. No one can predict market movements at any time. Investing involves risk. You can lose money, including total loss of principal. Consult your tax advisor for all income tax related questions. Stop-loss strategies utilize stop orders which turn into market orders, so they may not limit losses. Dividends are not guaranteed and may be cut or eliminated at any time and may not prevent losses. Annuities are not FDIC insured and are insured and guaranteed by the underlying insurance company only. Early withdrawal penalties may apply. Management fees are not allowed once funds are moved to an annuity. Annuities may or may not be suitable for all investors. Indexed funds attempt to track the underlying index but are only a proxy for that index and may or may not track the index exactly. 

Special note: For those wishing principal guarantees and possible market upside participation, you may consider a fixed indexed annuity. Purchased annuities have no management fees and are 100% principal protected. These I have found are desired by those that cannot tolerate any losses whatsoever, or are extremely sensitive to any kind of loss. They also will participate (rise in value) if the market (S&P 500) rises between the applicable time periods as set forth in the contract, so they have a minimum guaranteed interest of 7.2% over the life of contract OR you get a portion of the increase in the market. The greater amount of the two is what they guarantee and always 100% guaranteed to get at LEAST all your principal back and a MINIMUM of 7.2% on the entire balance OR the market upside, whichever is GREATER. The best of both worlds. Contact me for details. 


 

Update August 8 2025

 

Hummm  Should I sell or buy more? 

Investors often tell me if one of their stocks drops by a significant amount, they might buy more to take advantage of being able to buy more shares and reduce their cost per share. They do this in an attempt to try and make even more money by having more shares, expecting an eventual rebound. This action of adding more shares to an existing position at a lower price is called “averaging down”.

Although the strategy sounds good and may actually work according to plan, the concept has its flaws and in my opinion, is exactly opposite of what an investor should do. The strategy also defies common sense.

An analogy which might have you better understand why averaging down might not be such a good idea is to think of a dress shop owner.

Suppose a particular style of dresses that the owner has in stock is not selling. After weeks of sitting on the shelf, the shop owner goes and buys more, trying to average down his cost per dress. Common sense would make you wonder why they would do that. After all, the dress is not selling, is obviously not in favor by the customers, and buying more of them will only make the problem worse. 

In an attempt to average down, the owner now has even more of a product that is not moving off the shelves. Doesn’t make much sense does it?

The same might be true in the stock market. After all, buyers of stock fall along the same lines as buyers of anything else. When a stock is falling, it is also falling out of favor. Which is to say people are selling it because they don’t want it. Much like the dresses sitting on the rack untouched by the customers, the shares of stock are also being ignored and even dumped (sold) by market participants.

There are reasons why a stock goes down and there is no telling when the selling will stop. People might have a hunch why investors are dumping it, but no one really knows for sure when the stock will halt its descent and go back up. If the stock keeps dropping, some investors will even buy more of it in an attempt to average down again.  

On the flip side, imagine the shop has a dress that is flying off the shelf. Would a casual observer fault the owner for buying more of the popular and in demand dress?
 

Of course not.

The same might hold true for stocks. If a stock is running, think of it as a dress that is flying off the shelves.

Because it is in high demand, the shop owner might even have to pay more for the next shipment, as increased demand means higher prices and that price pull would often bleed over to the maker of the dress. In the world of stock, this means a higher stock.

The strategy of buying more of something when it is rising in price is called “averaging up” , and in my mind, averaging up makes a hell of a lot more sense than buying more of something that is not currently in demand.

In the stock world, buying stocks that are rising is called “momentum trading” and a case can be made using that strategy of investing.

When thinking back to the dress shop, it makes a heck of a lot of sense and the analogy seems to clarify why averaging down might be a losing proposition.

Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes averaging down can turn even bigger profits. But it can also turn into larger losses.

And there are caveats everywhere on trading on momentum. Another word for momentum trading might be construed as “chasing’’ a stock, and that too can be hazardous to one’s financial health. But more often than not, I hear about one investor or another buying more of a losing stock, and usually it is the novice trader.

Remember in the world of the big boy traders who often invest large sums of their own money, cutting losses is the norm. Not adding to them.

A case could be made for both averaging down and up, as well as dumping your losers altogether. But sometimes trading doesn’t have to be rocket science.

It can be more like just using plain old common sense.

“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”    

(end)    

(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS   (Regulations)    

This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249 His insurance agency is BAP INC. insurance services.  Email: news@moneymanagementradio.com

 

 


 
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