Don’t look now but as of the time I’m writing this post, US equity markets are fast approaching new all-time highs. I know – that is hard to believe after what we went thru just a few months ago. The recovery off the April lows has been staggering – yet remains a very hated and […]

I’m endlessly amazed (and amused) by the acronyms that market participants come up with. Anyone remember what FANG, BRIC, and/or TINA stood for? Well, don’t worry about those because there is a new acronym starting to take hold. It’s a catchy take on a favorite food – TACO.. which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” […]

I’ve received a few questions this week about the recent downgrade of the US. Let’s take a look. Earlier this week, Moody’s (a credit rating agency in the US) downgraded the United State’s credit rating to Aa1 (one level below the highest available AAA). Moody’s was the last of the three major credit rating agencies […]

I talked with a few clients this week about my top five takeaways from the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting this past Saturday. Here is the list! 1.) Remember your good fortune – I’ve always respected the pride and appreciation Warren has for his good fortune – namely the fact that he was born in an […]

I talked with a client this week about a “hot topic” in the news as of late – what exactly is a recession? This is an important topic to understand so let’s take a look. Before diving into recession definition, let’s look at the broader business cycle. This chart does a nice job showing the […]

If you’ve been reading any financial news as of late, you may have had the same question a client did this week – “should I be buying gold?” The question is justified as the precious metal regained all-time high prices, last seen in 1980 (adjusting for inflation) and is on pace for its best annual […]

There is no shortage of catch phrases being used on business news channels these days. One you’re likely to hear is “pulling guidance.” I talked with a client about what that means. Let’s take a look as you are very likely to hear this phrase in the coming weeks. The stock market is made up […]

If you watched the Rose Garden ceremony on April 2nd, you will undoubtedly remember this visual aid used to illustrate the so-called reciprocal tariffs set to be imposed by the US. Here is a sampling of the data shared. The concept was clear – the administration calculated the tariff being charged to the USA by […]

In recent weeks, clients have been consuming more financial news. This is understandable as when markets are volatile, the news media enjoys covering the ensuing drama and speculation. A client heard the term “multiple compression” and wanted to understand what that meant. Multiple is another term for a commonly used valuation metric – the Price […]

Whenever we hit times of market volatility, I always appreciate it when clients reach out to me. Many times, it helps just to talk to someone about your fears and concerns. The small action of speaking your worries outloud can be enough to satisfy that pesky “do something!” urge. During those discussions this week, there […]