Q3 2023 Investment Update

From a mainstream news flow perspective, it was a relatively quiet quarter. Union worker strikes with the Hollywood writers and the United Auto Workers were notable, though had little influence on financial markets and the economy. There was little progress in either direction on the Russia- Ukraine conflict and there were no new incidents in the increasingly cold relationship between the US and China. The build up to the US Presidential election remains in its early stages and is not yet relevant to financial markets. This left us with economic data - headlined by the ongoing battle against inflation - and other seasonal effects that drove financial markets.

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Q2 2023 Investment Update

The second quarter began with a continuation of the regional bank stress that surfaced in Q1. On May 1st, First Republic Bank (FRC) became the second largest bank failure in US history surpassing Silicon Valley Bank (SVIB), which had declared bankruptcy just two months prior. JP Morgan agreed to purchase the majority of the remaining assets of FRC, closing the doors on the 38 year-old bank.

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Here we are…two weeks until Election Day. This year it seems it can’t come (and go) soon enough! I learned a long time ago that it is best to avoid political conversations with coworkers, clients, and business associates. But this year these conversations seem almost unavoidable. 

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Friday was yet another interesting day in an interesting year. As you undoubtedly know by now, the UK electorate voted to leave the European Union sending global markets into a tailspin.

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“In the real world, things generally fluctuate between ‘pretty good’ and ‘not so hot.’ But in the world of investing, perception often swings from ‘flawless’ to ‘hopeless.’ The pendulum careens from one extreme to the other, spending almost no time at the ‘happy medium’ and rather little time in the range of reasonableness. The market is manic depressive. It swings from seeing only positives to seeing only negatives and from interpreting everything positively to interpreting everything negatively.” — Howard Marks, Chairman, Oaktree Capital.

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This is a great reference card for 2016 tax rates, tax deadlines, retirement account contribution limits, social security information and medicare information. This reference card is also full of other miscellaneous, important bits of information.

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Benchmarking is an important but often misused exercise. Used properly, a benchmark should provide a reference point for what was possible in a given period of time. It should also allow one to evaluate their own strategy, understand their successes and failures, and improve their process accordingly. Read more.

When Thanksgiving is a blur of food, family, and football, it’s all too easy to lose sight of the holiday’s real meaning. After all, Thanksgiving is an enduring holiday for a reason: there are inspirational lessons to be learned from our ancestors.

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Almost ten months into 2015, market performance this year reminds me a lot of 2011. The S&P 500 ended that year at 1257.60, fractionally off the 1257.64 level where it ended 2010. The Wall Street Journal stated, “For the S&P 500, 2011 Basically Never Happened.” But 2011 was a painful series of advances, declines, a near bear market decline of 19.4%, and a bumpy recovery to end the year flat. For investors, 2011 was emotionally trying even if nothing really happened.

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Are You Prepared?

As you may know, my wife has been a successful triathlete. Before our three children arrived she raced as a professional, and now she's back to racing at an elite level while also trying to break into the world of triathlon and performance enhancement coaching. 

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