Tariff Turmoil
Look around your home and you’ll likely find products that were made in at least a dozen different countries. Some items you purchase on a regular basis, such as food. Some are a one-time purchase like furniture. You buy these…
Category Columns
Picking Winners and Losers
The year 2024 was a good year for stock markets, especially for the U.S market. The three major indicators for the U.S. market (Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ) all registered healthy returns. You might think it was virtually impossible to…
Tennis and the Stock Market
Even if you’re not an avid tennis fan, you probably recognize the name Roger Federer. His tennis career spanned 25 years. During that time, he won 103 singles titles, and the Association of Tennis Professionals ranked him the number one…
If Only You Had a Crystal Ball
You might have had this thought before. If I could see into the future, I would really make money in the stock market. Like shooting fish in a barrel, as the saying goes. If only I knew who was going…
Taxation 101: Don’t Tax Me!
“Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree!” This short verse is thought to be attributed to the late Louisiana Senator Russell Long. We recognize that “taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.” At…
Are Americans Saving Any Money?
We’ve all heard the complaints about the cost of living in the U.S. Grocery prices, for example, are up a punishing 25 percent from just a few years ago. Not to mention energy prices, housing, and so on. Consumer credit…
A Tale of Two Economies
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”. You might recognize that as the opening line in Charles Dicken’s classic A Tale of Two Cities. That phrase might well apply to the U.S. economy. Despite relatively…
How Now 40 Dow?
On Friday, May 17, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed slightly above the 40,000 level for the first time ever. This no doubt generated mixed feelings among investors. Many were exuberant this huge milestone had been reached. But certainly, some…
Rolling the Clock Back
We recently adjusted our clocks by an hour to take advantage of longer daylight hours, a semi-annual ritual that many would like to eliminate. Let’s take a minute to roll the clock back on markets of the past few years.…
It’s a Coin Flip!
You may be familiar with the concept of a “fair” coin being used in a flip. If the coin is “fair,” there is an equal chance of a heads or tails outcome. If you flipped 100 times, you would expect…
Where Are All the Billionaires?
No doubt most of you reading this are in the non-billionaire club. Nevertheless, here’s an interesting paradox laid out in the book, The Missing Billionaires by Victor Haghani and James White. Permit me to lay out the puzzle here. The…
I’ll Be Back!
Even if you’ve never seen the movie Terminator, you may recognize that famous catch phrase from Arnold Schwarzenegger in his unmistakable Austrian accent. If markets could speak, they might have said the same thing a year ago, “I’ll Be Back!”.…
Tis the Season: How to Give Like the Big Boys Do
You’ve no doubt heard of family foundations before, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or the Walton Family Foundation. You’re probably under the impression that family foundations are reserved for wealthy families. Private foundations across the world contribute…
Here’s to Your Health and Wealth
A friend of mine tells the story of her uncle going in for his annual checkup. The doctor examines him closely, runs a few tests and tells him, “Billy, if you don’t quit drinking, you’re gonna go blind!” To that,…
Chasing Performance: Hazardous to Your Wealth
Are you tempted to buy that latest mutual fund you saw advertised on TV? Beware, it can be costly. And you probably don’t have a clue just how much! Ask the average person how to make money in stocks and…