To Inform:   Earlier this week we held our monthly Portfolios at Panera session and had a terrific discussion about the “why” behind our allocation and fund manager decisions.  One of the big topics on people’s minds seemed to be bonds.  With stock market volatility increasing and interest rates higher, is now a good time to […]

To Inspire:  Dr. Ben Hardy, author and Ph.D. candidate in Organizational Psychology, recently blogged the key findings of a 75-year Harvard University Study on the key contributors to human happiness.  Here is his summary of that study’s findings:   Build and maintain transformational relationships The clearest finding of the study was that good relationships keep […]

To Inform:     Aaron Filbeck, portfolio manager, recently traveled to New York City to attend an investment conference. One of the keynote presentations focused on the future of emerging markets, essentially dividing future growth drivers into three themes: Technological Disruption. The rise of mobile payments is changing how sectors do business. In emerging markets, wallets are quickly […]

To Inspire:  Perhaps you read the recent Columbus Dispatch article on Youth Across Borders and its founder, Courtney Bosca.  A Columbus resident, Courtney’s experience with Montana de Luz, a home in Honduras for children and young adults living with HIV, led her to imagine helping to foster connections between those children and youth and HIV […]

To Inform:   Last week the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury bond hit 3% for the first time in over four years, prompting major headlines in the Wall Street Journal and much discussion at last week’s Portfolios at Panera.  However, in The Joseph Group’s Investment Strategy Team meetings, it’s not the rate on the 10-year […]

To Inspire: Have you ever kept a daily journal?  Life Coach Michael Hyatt has been sharing the advantages of daily journaling.  They are very compelling, so we thought we’d share them with our readers. According to Michael, a daily journaling habit is one that has an extremely positive effect on every other area of life. […]

To Inform:   At The Joseph Group, we are not big market technicians who look for patterns in market charts, but we do want to be cognizant of investor behavior.  Despite talk of trade wars, social media privacy, and Russia, on down days for stocks, the S&P 500 is bouncing around the same levels it hit […]

To Inspire: Our team is grieving the death of Jan Winkleman, a long time client and dear friend of Mark’s, who died at age 60, recently after suffering a stroke.  Cherishing her memory are her husband, Larry, her adult children (Ryan, Tyler, and Allie) and their spouses and her many many friends. Jan was special […]

To Inform:   As we are typing this note, the S&P 500 is slightly positive year-to-date 2018, but it’s time to look under the hood.  To use a car analogy, the engine may be keeping things moving forward overall, but some components are working harder than others. Out of the 500 stocks that make up the […]

To Inspire: Christians throughout the world are nearing the end of Lent, a 40 day period in which they strive in modest ways to enter into Christ’s suffering: giving up certain pleasures (like coffee or desserts) and/or taking on additional acts of charity and prayer. In a recent issue of Success Magazine, writer Jonny Auping […]