Whether it’s reading neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta’s Keep Sharp, or listening to Dr. Peter Attia (author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity) on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, a favorite podcast of mine, or simply contemplating the many conversations I have with the older people and clients in my life on a daily basis, I have been devouring everything I can on this complex and interesting topic.
With earnings season winding down and this week’s relatively light economic calendar, the talk of the week has been around Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at Jackson Hole which is underway as of the publishing of this article. One of these days, speeches by Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) members and monetary policy decisions may once again be humdrum affairs which don’t compel regular newsletter updates, but that time has not yet come.
Two first-time Wimbledon champions were crowned last week, the oldest tennis tournament in the world (1877!). Carlos Alcaraz defeated seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, and Marketa Vondrousova became the first unseeded woman to ever win.
What exactly is going on with the US debt ceiling and what does it mean for investors?
On any given day, you might patrol with 15-20 American soldiers from your outpost through the grape fields doing your best not to trigger a booby trap that could blow off one of your legs. After making your way through the orchards, you might have ended up in a maze-like village composed of interconnected mud-walled compounds. The “streets” (although they were more like paths), might contain some mix of garbage, human waste, dead animals, or worse. It wasn’t uncommon to see children beating a stray dog (or each other) with rocks or sticks. From there, you might search a few
“Is the 60/40 Portfolio dead?!” I have seen some variant of this as an article title every few months for years. It’s a click-bait title and it is intriguing. The argument usually made in these articles is that investors can no longer rely on a diversified portfolio built primarily of traditional investment assets such as stocks and bonds to support retirement goals. I respectfully disagree with that assessment and today I’ll tell you why.
Investor Jim O’Shaughnessy said that “human nature is the last sustainable edge” due to its remarkable consistency over thousands of years. We may no longer be trading tulips in Amsterdam or speculating on the ticker tapes in bucket shops, but from a behavioral and emotional standpoint, we do not act differently than our forefathers.
This week, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates another .25% in its battle against inflation. In the weeks, and then ultimately days (in light of banking turmoil), leading up to the announcement, everyone everywhere seemed to take it upon themselves to offer Fed Chair Jerome Powell their own version of advice. And there were pretty sound arguments on both sides of the debate. Ultimately, the Fed did what we thought it would do—continue on its path of rate increases, albeit slower than what felt likely even just a few weeks prior (.50%).
Three banks have made headlines in recent days, Silvergate Bank and its holding company Silvergate Capital Corp (NYSE: SI), Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), and most notably Silicon Valley Bank and its holding company SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB). Silvergate Bank is a major bank of the cryptocurrency community and announced on March 8, 2023 that it would be winding down operations with plans to liquidate voluntarily.[1] On Friday, March 10, 2023 California banking regulators announced that the FDIC would take over the liquidation of Silicon Valley Bank holding company SVB Financial Group.[2] On Sunday night, March 12, New York banking regulators announced that Signature Bank would be placed into receivership of the FDIC.[3]
Admiral James Stockdale was the highest-ranking American taken prisoner during the Vietnam War after his A-4 Skyhawk fighter was shot down over North Vietnam. Stockdale ejected, breaking a bone in his back. Upon landing in a remote village, he badly dislocated his knee, which subsequently went untreated. Shortly thereafter, he was captured by North Vietnamese forces.
