Higher for Longer – A New Bull Market??

With the first episode in June, Jesse Hansford & Chris Beard celebrate the arrival of summer. The guys discover that the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has kicked off his summer with a bong bang, the S&P is finally breaking above a first level of resistance, but that not all parts of the…

Divergent Signals

Random Gleanings this week has Chris Beard & Jesse Hansford focusing on some of the mixed signals within the markets at present. To this point in the year, stock performance of the world’s largest companies have run away from the performance of smaller companies. One measure of inflation (Headline CPI) has cooled off dramatically from…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Macro Concerns

“It just occurred to me that the opposite of Artificial Intelligence is… Real Stupid.” – unknown It has only been six months since the initial release of ChatGPT but already artificial intelligence has seemingly taken over the social consciousness dominating the headlines of news articles and serving as the promise of a better, more productive…

Investment Management: Avoid the Left Tail

This week’s Random Gleanings has Chris and Jesse talking Tails… the left and right tails of a bell curve. When planning for a future financial goal (ie. Retirement), so much of the plan is built on the assumption of average outcomes. As such, the maintenance or improvement upon the average is important in achieving the…

Investing vs. Gambling – What are the Odds?

It has been said, “If investing feels like gambling, you are doing it wrong.” If you have avoided investing (or have anxiety around it) feeling like “it’s just a gamble” let Kelly Eldridge dispel you of this concern in this A$AP Finance episode where she shares that with the proper context, and time horizon the…

Fed Pause Pivot? & Stock Earnings: Jumping Over a Lowered Bar

Some attribute the BULL & BEAR Wall Street colloquialism to a brutal pastime of mid-nineteenth century California… taken from the Santa Cruz State Park website – “Prior to the mid-1860s, the spectacle of brutal bear and bull fights were enjoyed on the Sabbath after church services.” After Church… WHAT!?!?! Anyway… the debate between the “bulls”…

Banking & Real Estate – Will it Matter for Markets?

“It’s not nearly as bad as it was in 2008, but trouble happens to banking just like trouble happens everywhere else. In the good times you get into bad habits… When bad times come they lose too much.” – Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, speaking on regional banks exposure to commercial real estate.…

The Debt Ceiling: What Happened Last Time?

As we come to the close of April, Chris Beard, CFP & Jesse Hansford, CFP chew through three primary topics on this week’s Random Gleanings: 1. Home Prices broke their 7 month streak of declines by seeing price increases in February 2. Inflation… what if it stays higher for longer? 3. Debt Ceiling Debate… what…

Bear Market Rally or New Bull Market??

After a “washout” period like 2022, the difficulty of any advance for the stock market is in determining whether it is the start of a new and sustainable (secular) bull market or just a head fake to the upside amid a secular bear market. The latest Random Gleanings discussion between Professional Planning & Wealth partners…