To Inform: A question I like to ask money managers and market strategists is “what is your most contrarian opinion?” Howard Marks, the investor who helped pioneer junk bond investing and is one of the “rock stars” in the investment world, wrote, “If your behavior is conventional, you’re likely to get conventional results—either good or […]

To Inform: Earlier this week, we hosted a Portfolios at Your Place event where Partner and CEO Travis Upton and Chief Investment Officer Alex Durbin captured five themes from the past and five new themes, all of which are relevant today. I would like to take this opportunity to focus on one of them titled, […]

To Inform: Early in 2023 we talked about why it was a better time to own bonds than it had been in years prior, especially 2022, the worst year on record for bond returns. That indeed was the case in 2023 as investment grade bond indexes were up a little more than 5% and high […]

To Inform: This Wealthnotes title, “Absolutely Positive, Relatively Frustrating,” reflects both returns and my mood as I look at markets to close out 2024. Investment returns are often described as absolute or relative. Absolute simply means positive or negative, and in the absolute case, every major asset class posted positive returns in 2024 (although some […]

To Inform: Markets treat news in a variety of ways. There are times when bad news is simply bad news, and the market responds accordingly (down). There are times when bad news is “good news,” and the market responds accordingly (up). As for good news, there are times when good news is good and the […]

To Inform: Earlier this week we held our December Portfolios and Pints event. As part of the discussion, in what has become a bit of an annual tradition, we shared an updated summary of “Long Term Capital Market Assumptions.” It’s an intimidating sounding term, but “Capital Market Assumptions” (borrowing phraseology from JP Morgan) “provide return […]

To Inform: As we near the end of 2024, it looks like this year will be like last in some respects. As in 2023, the US stock market has done well, but “the average stock” is underperforming the S&P 500. A way to measure the performance of the average stock is by looking at the […]

To Inform: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” These words were spoken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address in 1933. Regardless of your thoughts on FDR (I have a few), these words were a salve to a nation wracked by economic turmoil and social unrest. Not a year earlier […]

To Inform:   Estate planning is often viewed as a task reserved for the wealthy and admittedly not something most of us want to consider, but the truth is, everyone can benefit from having a solid estate plan in place. It’s not just about distributing assets after death; it’s about ensuring that your wishes are […]

To Inform: Wow. The U.S. stocks posted a massive gain the day after the election of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. The popular Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,508 points (+3.6%) on November 6th and all of the most closely watched U.S. indices (Dow, S&P 500, NASDAQ) closed at […]