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 […]

February is here.  Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow (more winter on its way), and we celebrate the birthdays of George and Abe (our 1st and 16th Presidents).  But our favorite holiday of the month is February 14th, Valentine’s Day; a day to celebrate “romantic love” with a gift of roses, a touching note or a […]

To Inform:   After a week of market corrections and the most volatility in two years, it’s time for a little good news for the stock market.  The good news is corporate earnings look terrific. We are currently in the midst of earnings season where companies announce their earnings for the previous quarter and management provides […]

To Inspire: As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, we might pause to consider this amazing gift we call love.  The ancient Greeks defined four types of love: Eros – romantic love; Storge – the love of family members for one another; Phileo – the affectionate, warm and platonic love of friends; Agape – an unconditional […]

To Inform:   Earlier this week we sent out a note regarding the Dow’s “biggest point loss in history” (although it does not crack the top 100 declines in percentage terms) and how computerized trading strategies related to volatility seemed to be driving extremes in market movements.  After another significant decline on Thursday, most U.S. stock […]

To Inform:   1. What’s Happening?! After one of the strongest starts to a year ever in 2018, the stock market has quickly corrected over the last few days, reversing January’s gains.  The market correction, including the largest point loss for the Dow ever on Monday, has been fast and furious but in a big picture […]

To Inspire:  In our last Wealth Notes, we shared a three-step formula for your best year ever.  At its core, the formula calls for all of us to make small incremental changes each day that move us towards a desired goal, maintaining that small change day after day for weeks, months, even years.  It is this […]

To Inform:  The U.S. stock market has had an amazing run recently, but it appears volatility is coming back into the markets.  It may feel strange to see negative numbers on the market indexes, but we would say the volatility is not what is strange – it’s the fact the lack of volatility has lasted so […]

To Inform:  In 2017, foreign stocks broadly outperformed U.S. stocks.  Is foreign stock leadership a one-year fluke or can it continue?   Part of the outperformance in 2017 came from a weaker dollar, but based on earnings and valuation, we believe both emerging market stocks (think India, Brazil, and China) and developed market foreign stocks (think Japan […]