The “data dependent” Federal Reserve received another two data points this week as two inflation reports for September were published. Let’s take a look at what each revealed – and what they may mean for the path forward. Producer Price Index (“PPI”) First up was PPI, which measures wholesale prices (cost producers pay for finished […]

My mom’s neighbor called me this week to ask about the “bond crisis” as he had read a headline to that effect. I have shared my concerns over the general business media in the past and this is yet another example of why I feel the headlines don’t tell the full story (and perhaps are […]

During the last quarterly reporting cycle, I wrote to clients about the “shock and awe” that characterized the first half of 2023. The “shock” came from the failures of several financial institutions in March, which was accompanied by the “awe” that was the stunning rebound in equity markets, particularly in certain sectors exposed to the […]

A client reached out last week in an attempt to understand the mechanics of a recent trade. He had sold a combination of securities (a money market fund and a few ETFs) to free up cash in his after-tax account to pay for a recent purchase. The day after he placed the sale order/trade, he […]

Another quarter is (almost) behind us. As every investor knows, there are always lessons to be learned from time in the market and the past ninety days of activity were on exception. Below I summarize three key learnings from Q3 2023. 1.) It’s a Long and Winding Road This quarter was a great reminder that […]

It’s almost that time of year when you start to think “what was it that I needed to get done before 12/31 again?” – both on a personal and financial level. A popular item in the financial column is the processing of Required Minimum Distributions from pre-tax investment accounts. We covered this question/topic in detail […]

This week, I’ve had a few discussions with clients concerning areas of their financial journey beyond investments – areas such as income taxes, life insurance, and estate planning. A common theme to those discussions is the need to surround oneself with qualified and trusted advisors. Let’s take a closer look! Beyond Investments At Windermere, our […]

Markets were once again focused on the Federal Reserve this week as they released their September rate announcement. At that meeting, Chairman Jerome Powell stated that there would be no rate hike this month (the second such “pause” in 2023). This was a well choreographed moved and as a result, it was not a surprise […]

A sure sign of the passing of time these days is the release of monthly inflation reports. August 2023’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) were released this week and the results were..well, mixed. Let’s look at CPI first. Month over month, headline CPI rose 0.6%. The core metric (excluding volatile food […]

There was a time a few years ago when money market funds were an afterthought. With interest rates near zero, there was little to no need to consider investing in a money market fund (as you earned the same (almost zero) interest rate just staying put in cash). Times have changed and as of present […]