To Inform:  This Friday and Saturday, the G20 Summit of world leaders is being held in Osaka, Japan.  President Trump is already in Osaka as this note is being typed and multiple global issues will be discussed including global climate change, North Korea denuclearization, and tensions with Iran. Source:  www.G20.org   Perhaps the biggest focus […]

To Inform:  Earlier this week, I (Travis) attended J.P. Morgan’s Wealth Management conference in New York City.  The two-day conference was an opportunity to hear the big picture outlook on markets from J.P Morgan’s Chief Global Strategist, views on asset classes from multiple portfolio managers, and perspectives on how firms like The Joseph Group can […]

To Inform:  Late last year, the idea the Federal Reserve might actually CUT interest rates in 2019 seemed like an impossibility.  After all, the Fed increased short term interest rates in December of last year and economists widely expected the Fed to continue to increase rates by as many as 3-4 times in 2019.  Expectations […]

To Inform:  Is Trump’s decision to raise tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion dollars’ worth of Chinese goods impacting consumer behavior?  It sure did at the Upton house.  Here is the story: My wife has wanted to replace our kitchen floor for years.  Our kitchen has the original vinyl flooring from when our […]

To Inform:  I’m sure all of us are tired of seeing trade talks pop up in the news, and wish it would be done already…too bad! In most recent news, talks between the U.S. and China have not completely collapsed, but tensions between both parties continue to escalate. A quote from Brian Westbury, Chief Economist, […]

To Inform: Earlier this week, the S&P 500 index officially closed at a new all-time high, eclipsing the last high achieved on September 20th of last year. Courtesy of Yahoo Finance, here is what the chart of the S&P 500 looks like from September 20th of last year through the close on April 23rd of […]

To Inform: We hope you enjoy this short video that focuses on current financial market topics featuring Chief Investment Officer, Travis Upton!

To Inform:  Earlier this week, Fidelity Investments hosted a lunch with a senior member of their Capital Market Strategy Group to provide their views on the markets.  I (Travis) had the privilege of attending the lunch and it was a terrific opportunity to consider how Fidelity’s thoughts on markets line up with how we are […]

To Inform: At this week’s Portfolios at Panera, TJG’s Portfolio Manager, Aaron Filbeck, led our discussion that focused on one dimension of the portfolio construction process: active vs. passive management in The Joseph Group’s objective-based portfolios. As a quick refresher, the primary objective of a passive manager is to replicate the performance of an index, […]

To Inform:  Earlier this week, JP Morgan released its Global Asset Allocation Views for the 2nd quarter.  Overall, JP Morgan is slightly defensive in their views and recommend a slight overweight to bonds and a slight underweight to stocks as they expect markets to remain “range-bound” in the months ahead.  As we read through their […]