Capital Markets: Optimism Going Into The New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!  As 2024 comes to a close, it’s worth reflecting on the remarkable resilience and strength of the U.S. capital markets (e.g. stocks and bonds). It has been a strong year for you if you were invested in m...

We’re entering into an unusual moment in history. The Federal Reserve is set to lower interest rates within weeks of this writing. Fed Chair Powell said as much, expressing that “the time has come” for cuts at a recent FOMC press conference (source: CNBC). We’re getting rate cuts not because we’r...

As The U.S. Consumer Goes, So Goes The U.S. Economy

If you were to look at how the S&P 500 performed during the month of July without context from current events in the news, you would guess July was pretty boring.

As of this writing, the market had a minor sell off in the latter half of the month...

As we reach the midpoint of 2024, the market is up. And it keeps going up! Economic indicators reveal a nuanced picture, with sectors experiencing varying degrees of growth amidst persistent uncertainties. Let’s delve into recent market trends and economic developments so you can better navigate tod...

The market seems to think so.

The analogy of a soft landing refers to the Federal Reserve engineering the perfect timing of rate cuts such that inflation is tamed without causing a recession. According to the Wall Street Journal, “futures markets were pricing a 75.3% chance of one or more cuts by t...

It's a fair question. Capital markets have outperformed so far this year. How do you interpret this? Let's look at the facts --

Despite jitters over persistent inflation data, the economy continues to hum along. Optimism for the long term within American business is strong. Unemployment continues t...

Investor fear was sky high a year ago. Then the market soared. What happened?

Early in 2023 we were beginning our recovery from a precipitous market decline, talk of runaway inflation and recession was a consistent theme, and a few mid-sized banks failed (though depositors were made whole, either t...

What do I want my life to look like?

As a young attorney, once you have settled in your new job, you eventually should be asking yourself, What do I want my life to look like?  Now compare your current situation with that vision.

When I graduated from law school, I assumed that I would go through ...

If you were invested in the market since the beginning of November, you've made money. The Fed is currently holding interest rates steady, with the Fed Funds rate range between 5.25%-5.5%. But that isn't why markets have rallied of late. The Fed is forecasting 3 rate cuts in 2024. Markets soared on ...

The Fed is currently holding interest rates steady, with the Fed Funds rate range between 5.25%-5.5%.

Because of high interest rates, cash is hot. We haven’t seen interest rates on cash/cash equivalents this high since before the Great Financial Crisis. The Fed has also indicated that higher rates ...

I’ve mentioned earlier that I had an excellent public education.  My high school was one of the finest in New England, and I had the best teachers of my academic career there.  My high school was in Guilford, CT – founded 1639.  Think about it – at the time of the American revolution, Guilford was a...

Kissinger and Kardashian

Anyone of my age remembers Henry Kissinger.  He was known for his shuttle diplomacy, and was always all over the news.  And he had the most annoying speaking voice ever – gravelly!  It almost hurt to listen for more than a few minutes. 

Years go by and now we have Kim Kard...