LeFleur Financial

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Unexpected Events — LeFleur Financial At the end of January, DeepSeek unveiled its AI model, a lower-cost Chinese version of ChatGPT that performed comparably to its US counterpart. This unexpected development caused the S&P 500 to drop by 1.5%. Fortunately, the market corrected within a few days as more came to light about De

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Inflation FAQ — LeFleur Financial Inflation has been a hot topic since 2021, but its causes, solutions, and broader implications remain unclear to many. So let's clear up some common misconceptions: What is inflation? Inflation is the rate of price increases for goods and services in an economy, primarily measured by the Con

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Why Are Mortgage Rates Still High? — LeFleur Financial The Fed has cut interest rates twice since September, and it's widely anticipated that they will cut again in December. Yet according to Freddie Mac's weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey, the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage has risen from 6.2% to 6.81% over the same period. Mortgage rates ro

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Negativity Only Sounds Smart — LeFleur Financial As children, we love the ever optimistic Winnie the Pooh, in his undersized shirt with no pants, even if he’s not the brightest. And while we feel bad for Eeyore, he is certainly not our favorite. But in adulthood, something shifts–we start gravitating toward negativity and exalting it as intell...

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Don't Play It Safe — LeFleur Financial Higher interest rates are tough for homebuyers, but if you’re fortunate enough to have a little money in the bank, they also mean you can earn a return on cash. And in a post-pandemic world, contending with conflict in Israel and Ukraine, it makes sense that investors want to play it safe on the s...

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Reasonable Predictions, Poor Returns — LeFleur Financial In 2016, sports personality Max Kellerman boldly predicted, “Tom Brady’s just about done. It could be his next game, it could be a year from now, but he is going to fall off a cliff.” Brady then played another six years, winning three more Super Bowls. That’s a tough call to live down. Kelle...

New blog post - why "believing" in a company isn't a reason to invest

Invest. Don't Believe. — LeFleur Financial In the 1991 classic Hook , we root for Robin WIlliams, who plays an old Peter Pan, to shed the hardened corporate shell of his adulthood and regain the innocence of his youth. And while believing in fairies and thinking happy thoughts may help you fly and defeat Captain Hook in Neverland, such nons

New blog post - why you should care about interest rates

Who Cares About Bonds? — LeFleur Financial If the stock market is Paul McCartney, then the bond market is Ringo Starr. It’s traditionally seen as boring and stable, but this year, it might as well be Harry Styles selling out his 15-night residency at Madison Square Garden. Every day, headlines are filled will stories about Treasuries, inte...

New blog post - a reminder that investing is hard

Investing is Hard — LeFleur Financial The great philosopher Mike Tyson once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” After three years of double-digit gains in the S&P 500, a 20.58% drop through the first half of 2022 feels like a knockout punch. How did you react? Did you stick to your investing plan? D

New blog post - perspective if you're feeling uneasy about 2022

What Will the New Year Bring? — LeFleur Financial The prospect of a new year is always exciting, but with the cloud of Omicron and inflation hanging over us, it’s hard not to feel like caffeine pill-addicted Jessie Spano in the iconic episode of Saved by the Bell when she dramatically proclaimed, “I’m so excited. I’m so… scared.” That m...