Commentary

On 12/25/2018, the Kansas City Star posted a story titled, “Economy is Strong.  Leadership is Shaky”.  As most of you are aware, 2018 was a year that gave us a very volatile stock market, especially in the 2nd half of the year.  The S&P and the Dow were both up...

As we approach autumn, many farmers are putting up hay. Farmers store hay because they know there might be a harsh winter, or a drought, when there might not be enough grass available for the stock. No one has ever been able to predict when the hard times will come,...

Crypto-currencies began to emerge during the banking crisis of 2008. Over time, Bitcoin has become the most popular crypto-currency. In the early days, Bitcoin owners would contact each other and meet at Starbucks to swap Bitcoin for cash. Since then, there have been...

2018 1st Quarter Commentary ALARMISM SELLS!   Yes, alarmism sells when you are trying to sell newspapers or air time on television and radio. However, it is not always helpful to us as investors. Lately, we are being told that we should be alarmed about the...

2017 4th Quarter Commentary “IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID” Bill Clinton, 1992 During Bill Clinton’s first run for President in 1992, his campaign slogan was, “It’s the Economy, Stupid.” It was a good campaign strategy. In general, if the public is experiencing a...

2017 3rd Quarter Commentary THE GOLD RUSH! In 1849, gold was discovered in California. Back east, the media picked up on it and began to publish stories about people getting rich overnight in the California gold fields. As a consequence, thousands of people sold...

2017 2nd Quarter Commentary - WHAT IN THE WORLD IS “WANNACRY” RANSOMWARE? In 1988, the first computer plague was developed - a small program written as an experiment by computer scientist, Robert Morris, Jr. This plague, or worm, effectively shut down the internet....

 2017 1st Quarter Commentary POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY We realize that many people supported the Trump presidential campaign, and many did not. However, since Mr. Trump was elected President of the United States, his agenda matters in terms of the economy. As we listed...

2016 4th Quarter Commentary –
THE U.S. STOCK MARKET HITS NEW HIGH!

Since the U.S. Presidential election, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen 1,803 points, from 17,959 on November 9th to 19,762 (on December 30th.) The 2016 Presidential election had the two most controversial candidates in memory. Americans had very strong feelings about which candidate was the best and which was the worst. Regardless of how you feel about the candidates, Mr. Trump won the election. Whether you agreed with Trump or disagreed with Trump, the important thing is to look at the things he is proposing:

2016 3rd Quarter Commentary

HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE GET THESE NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES?

One of the most common questions we have had over the last few years has been about negative interest rates and why they are bing imposed by central banks.  As recently as June of this year, the Swedish National Bank, Swiss National Bank, Denmark National Bank, European Central Bank, and the Bank of Japan all had negative interest rates.