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If you’ve ever felt torn between “playing it safe” and “trying to grow faster,” the Core-Satellite Portfolio might be exactly what you’re looking for. It’s a smart, flexible investing framework that blends stability with opportunity—without turning your portfolio into a full-time hobby. What Is a Core-Satellite Portfolio? A Core-Satellite Portfolio is an investment strategy that divides your portfolio into two main parts...

If you’ve ever felt like investing advice changes with every headline, Strategic Asset Allocation is the calming counterweight. Strategic Asset Allocation is the long-term framework for how your money is divided among major asset classes—typically stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes real estate or alternatives—based on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. It’s the “set the course and stick to it” approach to investing.

Tactical Asset Allocation is a fancy-sounding term for something pretty practical: temporarily adjusting how your money is invested based on current market conditions. Think of it as steering the ship—not rebuilding it. The Simple Definition of Tactical Asset Allocation Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) is an investment strategy where you make short-term adjustments to your portfolio’s asset mix (stocks, bonds, cash, real estate, etc.) to take advantage of market opportuniti

Momentum Strategy is a simple but powerful investing concept built on one core idea:assets that have been performing well tend to keep performing well—at least for a period of time. Instead of trying to predict what might do well next, a momentum strategy focuses on what’s already working and rides that trend until the momentum fades. This approach isn’t flashy. It’s disciplined. And when used wisely, it can help investors avoid emotional decision-making and align their mon

Definition of Contrarian Strategy A Contrarian Strategy is an approach to investing (and decision-making) where you intentionally go against the prevailing market sentiment. When most people are optimistic and buying aggressively, contrarians get cautious. When most people are fearful and selling, contrarians start looking for opportunities. At its core, a contrarian strategy assumes that markets often overreact—both on the upside and the downside...

A Simple Definition of Seasonal Investing Seasonal Investing refers to investing strategies that take advantage of recurring calendar-based trends in the financial markets. These trends can be monthly, quarterly, or tied to specific parts of the year — like holidays, earnings seasons, or even weather patterns. A classic example is the saying, “Sell in May and go away,” which reflects the historical tendency for stocks to underperform during the summer months...

Definition of Sector Rotation Sector Rotation is an investment strategy that involves shifting money between different sectors of the economy—such as technology, healthcare, energy, or consumer goods—based on where we are in the economic or market cycle. The idea is simple: different sectors tend to perform better at different times. In other words, not all parts of the market lead at the same time. Smart investors pay attention to where the momentum is moving next...

The Definition of Mean Reversion Mean Reversion is the concept that over time, prices, returns, or performance tend to move back toward their long-term average—or “mean.” In plain English: What goes up too far usually comes back down.What goes down too far often comes back up. Markets don’t move in straight lines forever. They swing. They overshoot. Then they correct.

What Is Window Dressing? Window dressing is the practice of making financial statements, investment portfolios, or business results look better than they really are—usually right before they’re reviewed by outsiders. It’s not always illegal. But it’s often misleading.

What Is a Santa Claus Rally? A Santa Claus Rally refers to the historical tendency for the stock market to rise during the final trading days of December and the first couple of trading days in January. Traditionally, this period includes the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year. In plain English: stocks often get a late-December boost—right when people are hanging lights, wrapping gifts, and eating one too many cookies.

Definition of Halloween Effect The Halloween Effect (sometimes called Sell in May and Go Away) is a market anomaly that suggests stocks tend to perform better during the six-month period from November through April than they do from May through October. In plain English: historically speaking, the market has often delivered stronger returns in the “winter” months than in the “summer” months.

Definition of January Effect The January Effect is a market pattern where stocks—especially small-cap stocks—tend to perform better in January than in other months. The theory suggests that prices rise early in the year after investors rebalance portfolios, reinvest bonuses, or buy back stocks they sold in December. In plain English: January often gets a little more bullish than average.

Definition of Market Anomaly A market anomaly is a pattern, trend, or result in financial markets that doesn’t line up with what traditional financial theory says should happen. In plain English: it’s when the market behaves in a way that looks weird, inconsistent, or flat-out illogical—yet happens often enough that investors notice. Classic finance theory assumes markets are efficient, rational, and price assets perfectly based on available information...

Definition of Home Bias Home Bias is the tendency for investors to heavily favor investments from their own country while underinvesting in international markets. In plain English: we like what’s familiar. We buy U.S. stocks, U.S. bonds, U.S. real estate… and quietly ignore the rest of the world—even though the global economy is much bigger than just us. From a comfort standpoint, that makes sense. From a wealth-building standpoint, it can quietly hold you back.

A Simple Definition of Anchoring A behavioral bias where we fixate on an initial price, value, or piece of information and use it to make ongoing decisions—often leading to bad financial choices.

Definition of Herding Herding is when investors blindly follow what everyone else is doing instead of making decisions based on actual research, fundamentals, or strategy. It’s jumping into the market simply because “everybody’s buying” or dumping your investments just because “everyone is selling.”

Definition of Random Walk Theory Random Walk Theory says that stock prices move in random, unpredictable ways because all available information is already baked into the price. In other words, the market doesn’t care about your predictions, your gut feelings, or your uncle Joe’s “can’t-miss stock tips.” Prices just… wander.

Definition of Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) says this: All publicly available information is already baked into current stock prices — instantly. In other words, you can’t consistently “out-smart” the market by finding hidden gems, secret tips, or under-the-radar opportunities… because the market has already priced those in. Like, immediately. According to EMH, the only way to beat the market is by taking more risk — not by being s

Definition of Dollar Cost Averaging Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) is an investing strategy where you invest a fixed amount of money at regular intervals—say, every week or every month—regardless of whether the market is up or down. Over time, this approach smooths out your purchase price and reduces the risk of buying everything at the market’s peak.

Definition of Growth Investing Growth investing is a strategy focused on buying shares of companies that are expected to grow faster than the overall market. These companies typically reinvest their profits back into expansion—through new products, technology, or market share—rather than paying dividends to shareholders. The goal? Long-term capital appreciation.