The start of the 4th quarter is decidedly bearish, with the first two days seeing significant market losses. Our managed portfolios continue to hold extreme cash and bond positions which is helping to significantly limit the amount of deterioration seen in the first few days of the quarter. Click here to access our current view of [...]

Goodbye August, and not a moment too soon.  The volatility demonstrated for the month was astounding: out of the 23 days the markets were open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average moved by triple digits (either up or down) 16 of those days.  The best single day was a gain of +3.98%, and the worst day [...]

I’d like to talk to you for a moment about my lawn.  Back in 2003, my family purchased one of the great “old ladies” of Appleton, an 1893 Queen Anne Victorian complete with a wrap-around porch, a turret, and even the ghost of a former teacher (Mae Webster).  Yes, the house was in need of [...]

 Earnings season is upon us once again, with a few companies schedule to release quarterly profit reports, revenues and their own forecasts in the coming week.  By perhaps the best measure, the market has already priced in much of the current economic recovery: the current modified price to earnings ratio (PE/10) for the S&P 500 index [...]

Another good couple of weeks for the markets and for all of our managed portfolios.  With the current market environment being quite cooperative, we continue to be nearly fully invested in all major market segments, including U.S. dividend-paying equities, U.S. growth equities, foreign emerging markets, U.S. real estate, commodity-based equities, and high-yield fixed income.  Positions [...]

Generally speaking, each of the ETFs used in Appleton Group Wealth Management’s core portfolios (Appleton Group Portfolio, Appleton Group PLUS Portfolio, and Appleton Group Tax Managed Growth Portfolio) is demonstrating a supportive rising price trend at the present time. The market has remained cooperative over the past four months or so, and as such we have continued to [...]

The Appleton Group Asset Allocation Portfolios combine any one of our firm’s core investment strategies with a specific allocation to fixed income and/or money-market assets.  Working with one of our firm’s private client advisors, clients first choose which of our firm’s core portfolio strategies best fits their particular needs and personal investing style.  They then [...]

The Appleton Group Managed 401(k) / 403(b) has been one of our firm’s most successful investment programs. It offers full-time, professional management of an individual’s personal retirement plan assets. We review the lineup of funds available under the plan, and adjust the participant’s holdings in real time as market conditions change. Many of our firm’s professionally [...]

    Appleton Group Retirement Plan Services’ advisory expertise runs deep, a valuable asset in today’s dynamic fiduciary and regulatory environment.  In fact, our firm was named to the list of the Top 20 Rising Stars of Retirement Plan Advisors by Institutional Investor Magazine.* As a true leader in the corporate retirement plan market, we [...]