Business & Real Estate

The U.S. stock market did not have a happy holiday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was down approximately 12 percent for the fourth quarter of 2018, and the large market drop the day before Christmas, ordinarily a quiet trading session, was record-breaking.

Yet the news during this period was mixed. On the negative side, there was the ongoing trade war with China, another Federal Reserve interest rate increase, the government shutdown and executive branch instability, and greater uncertainty around the UK exit from the European Union. On the positive side, corporate profits remained strong (bolstered by the largest corporate tax cut in history), the Conference Board’s leading economic indicators pointed to further growth and consumer spending during the holidays set another record.

Los Altos

1898 Robles Ranch Road, Horowitz Family Trust to Y. & A. Stolyar for $3,300,000

670 Arrowood Court, Siegel Family Trust to A. Koinov for $3,850,000

It is a new chapter and new year, usually with resolutions. One of them could be that you have had enough of your current job, boss and colleagues and want to move to newer pastures.

But what about your company 401(k), where you have diligently stashed away $19,000 every year if you are under 50 years old, or $25,000 if you are over 50? Should you keep it at your employer or move it to a self-managed or adviser-managed IRA?

Courtesy of DeMartini Orchard
An AutoX delivery car sits beside one of DeMartini Orchard’s original delivery trucks, now replaced by AutoX’s new technology. AutoX is the first fully autonomous restaurant food and grocery delivery in the Bay Area.

Los Altos’ DeMartini Orchard receives a handful of orders each week through the San Jose-based delivery service app AutoX, a small but steady start to expanding the market’s reach and bringing it into the modern age.

Following are some frequently asked questions about selling and buying off-market listings.

A Los Altos-based nonprofit organization that helps people in Kenya raised a record amount of money at last month’s major fund- raiser.