Investment Risk
Silicon Valley Bank: A Perspective
We’re following the story of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday March 10. While this is the largest bank failure since 2008, it’s not that unusual for a regional bank to fail. Between 2016-2020 there were 16 bank failures, half of which occurred prior to the pandemic. SVB was a large player in…
Read MoreSimple but not Easy
We’re all plenty familiar with the axioms of investing: spend less than you earn; keep investment costs low; create clear, appropriate investment goals; choose an appropriate risk profile and a balanced asset allocation; diversify; rebalance; to name just a few. They’re pretty straightforward – true? – and not so difficult to believe. 2022 has also…
Read MoreResilience
Investing is like life itself; wishing to avoid periodically going sideways or backwards is not realistic. Rather than seeking to avoid all hardship or setback, we should instead focus on developing stronger resilience. Peggy and I have just spent the past couple weeks watching tennis from the US Open in New York, happily recounting the…
Read MoreMaking Sense of our Economic Landscape
“Cast me gently into morning,For the night has been unkind.” -Sarah McLachlan, “Answer” With so many developments and crosscurrents in our current economy and investment markets, it can be difficult to make sense of where we are, not to mention where we might be going. Here, we’ll take a look at some of these forces…
Read MoreEconomic Commentary and Investment Update
In 2022, the war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions, COVID supply chain shocks, and a re-ordering of global trade have leveled a solid bodycheck on the US and global economies. Even the strongest skater is likely to wobble under such circumstances. We’ll highlight a few themes which have occupied and at times confounded investors in…
Read MoreTranslate This Page
Recently I saw these words at the top right corner of my computer screen: “Translate this page.” My mind was deep in critical thought at the moment, and at first the message didn’t register. Momentarily, however, my eyes wandered back. “What?” Then I started laughing, realizing that Google was offering to translate this page into…
Read MoreSustainable Capitalism
Larry Fink would like you to know that he’s a capitalist. He’s the founder and CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, so it makes sense that he would be. However, Mr. Fink has drawn criticism in the last few years for his annual letter to CEO’s, in which for the last several years…
Read MoreRussia, Ukraine, and Your Portfolio’s Path Forward
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on top of inflation concerns in the US and elsewhere, markets have recently been subject to greater volatility as well as declines in value. “Markets,” a term used to describe all global investors, price assets based on available information and the implications they derive from it. It’s reasonable, then, for…
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