It’s been yet another tumultuous week in markets. What caused the downward momentum this week? While one can never be certain, market prognosticators have largely pointed to Fed Chair Jay Powell’s comments in front of Congress, as well concerns over job market strength (non-farm payrolls will be released the day after I publish this). Weeks […]

Every year, legendary investor Warren Buffett pens a letter to shareholders that accompanies Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report. It’s a must-read in my opinion and while this year’s was a bit shorter than in prior years, it still contained plenty of insightful learnings. I highly encourage you to read the full letter for yourself. Below I’m […]

As most of you know, my sweet dog Maple is one of the best parts of my life. We love adventuring together in local parks and when it’s safe to do so, I let her off her leash to explore. I was listening to a presentation on dog training earlier this week and they discussed […]

We all know the fairy tale of the wandering girl who stumbles into the home of three bears and tastes the bowls of porridge trying to find one that is the perfect temperature. This “too hot, too cold, just right” parable has been told to countless children over the generations and has also served as […]

A research service I subscribe to recently shared an article about decision making. If you are an investor like me than you know all too well the level of decisions you are required to make to stay sane (and invested!). A fresh perspective on decision making is always welcomed. The article discussed a recent book […]

It was not all that long ago that Federal Reserve meetings would barely be covered by the media. Now they are truly the monthly headline event and Wednesday’s announcement was no exception (February 1, 2023 meeting) US Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell took the stage and announced a widely anticipated 25 basis point rate increase, […]

I’ve been meeting with clients to review 2022 reports this week. During some of those discussions, I’ve been referencing a chart from a renowned investor that really captures the powerful shift in markets over the past year. The chart is from Howard Mark’s most recent quarterly memo. (Howard Marks is a legendary investor and his […]

I’m in the midst of year-end reporting right now, and needless to say, reports from 2022 will not make the best seller list! It was a challenging year across virtually all asset classes. Even supposed “safe” assets such as bonds declined double-digits. After a down year, it is easy to get concerned about the investment […]

I’m writing this on another grey and gloomy January day in Wisconsin. Perhaps that is why I chose this title. Or perhaps it is because today’s inflation report may finally be giving markets, investors, and this ever-optimistic financial advisor a glimmer of hope that we are approaching lighter and brighter investing days ahead. December CPI […]

If you were watching the news media over the holidays, you undoubtedly saw many images of airports as the Southwest flight cancellation was extensively covered for quite few days. As I observed the repeated images of passengers waiting in airport boarding gates it occurred to me that there have been a lot of parallels between […]