Thursday was ugly. The Nasdaq fell into correction territory — its worst day since 2020 — as fears about the AI buildout and new political headwinds triggered a sell-off that wiped out roughly $2.5 trillion in market value in a single session. Chip stocks took the brunt of it, with names like Nvidia and Tesla down sharply. Today, markets are bouncing hard — Nasdaq up, chip stocks leading the recovery, helped by a better-than-expected jobs report. Good news, for sure. But any time you see a sharp bounce right after a brutal sell-off, it's worth knowing the term "dead cat bounce" — a short, sharp rally that happens even in the middle of a longer downtrend, before the selling resumes. Nobody knows yet which one this is, and that's the point: don't assume either way. Here's something to chew on while the headlines sort themselves out: several of the large tech names that get labeled "way overpriced" are actually trading at or below the Nasdaq's own average P/E ratio right now. The mega-cap story may be less "bubble" and more "reasonably priced relative to the index" than the headlines suggest. The real takeaway isn't "time this bounce" — it's the boring, proven one: stay diversified, stay invested, and let time do the work. Trying to guess whether a given rally is real or a trap is a losing game for almost everyone. Not financial advice — talk to your own advisor about what's right for you. What's your read — is this a real recovery, or are we due for more downside?

A while back, one of you asked me a question that stuck with me: fees stress you out, especially not really understanding how they're structured at the firm you're with. That's a completely fair thing to not understand — most people never get a straight answer on it. So I made a video walking through the five common ways people invest — commission-based brokerage, fee-based/advisory accounts, DIY/discount brokerage, robo-advisors, and annuities — what each one actually costs, how to find your real number, and what you should expect to get for what you're paying. I also ran the actual math on what a 1% fee difference does to an account over 20-25 years, using the SEC's own example. Not a "fire your advisor" video. Just: know what you're paying, and know what it's supposed to buy you. https://youtu.be/WI0ppA54JyE If you've got a specific fee situation you're trying to make sense of, drop it below — happy to talk through it.