Why is the Media So Negative

Have you noticed that the media tends to have a negative bias to the things they report? Every now and then there is a positive story, but it appears that the vast majority of headlines and stories are negative in nature. There is a reason for this. The Media’s Goal We could surmise that the […]

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When a $20 Bill is Worth More than $20

Last month’s global Windows outage, which took many businesses offline, is a great reminder of how sensitive computing and the cloud can be. You would think that something that prevented people from corresponding via email and incapacitated Delta Airlines for days would be a malicious virus. But that was not the case. This was simply […]

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Celebrating The Freedom To Invest Well

I am so grateful to live in a free nation. I am so grateful for the freedom and right to pursue happiness, as established in the Declaration of Independence. Thanks be to many unselfish individuals that sacrificed much, even their own lives, so we can enjoy these freedoms today. These freedoms don’t guarantee desirable outcomes, […]

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Make This A Great Summer By Practicing Strategic Omission

As summer comes upon us, many people take time off work, travel, and spend time with family and loved ones. The summer provides many opportunities for us to make memories – memories that can last a lifetime and provide years of joy. But life is complex. We often need to juggle multiple priorities, many of […]

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Uncertainty, Outcomes & Our Decisions

The brain has a lot of gray matter but hates gray areas. As a planning machine, the brain needs information that is certain so it can figure out the best course of action. And when we don’t get certain information, we get agitated. Perhaps you have said, “I don’t care if the news is good […]

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15-Year Lookback: Learning from the Global Financial Crisis

15 years ago the markets began to recover from the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression. The Global Financial Crisis resulted in many jobs lost, stock markets losing half their value, and the personal and psychological toll was significant. The GFC was the greatest test of investor fortitude this generation has experienced. Many […]

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What Investors Can Learn From Athletes

Nick Saban, recently retired football coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide said, “If you want to be good you don’t really have a lot of choices.” He was referring to the choice to either be disciplined or not to a specific process that would lead to success. No one is born an athlete. We are […]

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Back To Normal

Intellectual Humility Humility, or I should say the lack of humility, is a quality that is easy to identify in others, yet difficult to see in ourselves. Humility is a difficult quality to develop because it may threaten our sensitive egos. Ego is important; we all have one. Our very survival depends on what “I” do or […]

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A Robust Forecast for 2024

The brain may be filled with gray matter, but it hates gray areas. And there are few other places we find gray areas (uncertainty) than in the economies and markets of the world. One word of caution: our innate desire for certainty leaves us prone to fall for the illusion of certainty. Market and economic […]

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Achieving Success

As the year comes to an end, it’s a good time to reflect upon the year behind us. The good things, the bad things, and the success we achieved along the way. Sometimes we rely upon favorable circumstances to achieve success, but circumstances are often beyond our control. While our circumstances can make it easier […]

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