To Inform: When I joined The Joseph Group this summer as an intern, I was excited not only to grow in financial knowledge but also to understand the emotional and psychological factors that shape our money decisions. As a student of both finance and psychology, I was recommended a book that quickly became a favorite: The […]

To Inform: There is a tension in the investment world. Predictions can be valuable and are important exercises. Here, having an imagination can be a valuable tool. Anticipating where markets are heading requires one to think about a range of possible outcomes. Sometimes those outcomes seem murky, sometimes they seem crystal clear. But even when […]

To Inform: Every month our Chief Investment Officer, Alex Durbin, puts together a packet of charts with perspectives on markets and asset classes we call our Market Health Analysis (MHA). While Alex puts the ultimate document together, I try to help him out at the beginning of the month by putting charts I find interesting […]

To Inform: One of the greatest country songs put to vinyl was a collaboration between Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson titled “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.” My favorite line in the song is “He ain’t wrong, he’s just different.” There are some things about our philosophy here at TJG that […]

To Inform:  It’s hard to believe how quickly things are moving in Washington, D.C. As I type this, Travis Upton, CEO of The Joseph Group, is barreling down on the city in a tour bus, accompanying a gaggle of high school choir students. I can’t help but wonder if he also attempts a little bit […]

To Inform: Earlier this week I had a conversation with a friend and business owner for whom The Joseph Group serves as advisor to his company’s 401(k). Here is a summary of part of our conversation: Friend: “Travis, what did the market do today?” Travis: “Flat today, but this week the S&P 500 turned positive […]

To Inform: A few weeks ago, we wrote in this space the importance of distinguishing “good/bad” from “better/worse.” The market, a forward-looking indicator, isn’t so much concerned about the current state of corporate earnings or the macroeconomic backdrop in general as it is the trajectory of those things. In early April, economic indicators were (and […]

To Inform: Realizing that we are comfortably through the April 15th tax filing deadline (for those of you not on extension) we don’t want to look at tax planning as simply a thing we think about when you file your return. As Wealth Advisors we want tax to be a planning topic we touch on […]

To Inform: This week, Joseph Group’s CEO Travis Upton and I had the pleasure of sharing our latest thoughts on what to make of markets in light of a tremendous shift in global trade policies. Borrowing a turn of phrase from a DC-based policy researcher, I likened what we’ve seen regarding tariffs over the past […]

To Inform: Along with questions about tariffs in recent weeks, other topics of conversation have been around what is happening with the dollar as well as the move in gold prices to all-time highs. I’m going to address these and answer the question, “when should I take profits?” I cover a lot of ground here […]