Happy new year! I trust that you had a great holiday season and are ready for a wonderful year ahead. The calendar turned to a new year only a few days ago and already the markets and business media are off and running with their 2024 predictions. Countless money managers and economists are filing the […]

Welcome to December! We’ve officially turned the calendar to the final 31 days of the year (a month where many of our calendars are now filled with chocolate and treats!) Hopefully you all enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving with your families and are ready for the conclusion of another action packed year! A lot has happened […]

As I’ve mentioned in the past, we subscribe to a few research services to help provide timely information and analysis of markets. One of these firms (FS Insight) published a video this week discussing the “wall of worry” markets have been attempting to climb (unsuccessfully) ever since late July. I thought it would be worthwhile […]

If you’ve been reading my articles for a while, you know I’ve written about a tetter totter (or see saw if you prefer) in the past when explaining any number of market dynamics. I’ll risk repeating myself this week as it is such a good visual. It works especially well when thinking about investor sentiment. […]

Being from Milwaukee, I likely shouldn’t admit this (shhhhh, don’t tell anyone!) – but I don’t watch a lot of Bucks basketball. Nothing personal against the Bucks, but NBA just isn’t on my usual radar. However, once playoff time rolls around, I can’t help but get swept up in the action and this year was […]

Two major economic reports have been released in the past week for March – labor report and inflation report (as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)). Let’s review the headlines of these economic news releases and explore what these reports may mean for markets moving forward. Labor Market Report Markets may have been closed […]

Here we are, nearing the end of Q1 2023. If you simply looked at market returns, you would think it was a pretty decent quarter. During the first three months of the year (with one trading day to go), equity markets have risen around 5%, interest rates have fallen slightly (giving a boost to bond […]

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 […]

Interest rates have never been such a hot topic of conversation! It seems you can’t turn on the news or talk to your friends lately without someone bringing up interest rates (did you see what you can earn on cash? look at how much mortgage rates have gone up! should I just buy the 2-year […]