Weekly Commentary

  I’m hard-pressed to find anyone who is not aware of the latest data breach of one of the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax.  As you know, on Thursday, September 7, Equifax announced that hackers had gained access to company data, potentially compromising sensitive information on roughly 143 million people, mostly American’s [i].  According […]

  In the wake of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the U.S. economy is likely to incur substantial costs, beyond the costs to those experiencing the immediate effects of these terrible storms.  In terms of macroeconomics, direct costs follow any natural disaster.  In fact, records demonstrate that hurricanes are the most expensive types of natural disasters […]

  In the wake of the flooding in Houston and its surroundings, we watched with pride as people of all walks of life came together to support each other.  However, at the same time, we saw the world order slip a little closer to chaos.  This last week, North Korea continued its destabilization efforts by […]

  With only ten companies left to report earnings in the S&P 500, it’s safe to say that it has been a productive earnings season for S&P 500 companies.  Thus far, companies in the index have reported an average increase in earnings of 9.43 percent. [i] This surely harmonizes with the improvements in macroeconomic data […]

  Over the past eighteen months I have used Uber, the ride-sharing company, over 150 times.  For those of you who aren’t familiar, Uber drivers can choose when they work and how long they work while using their own vehicles to make money.  Over the past several months I have informally surveyed who these drivers […]

  “I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that’s my fault because people have confidence in me.” – President Donald Trump, April 14, 2017 [i] Regardless of whether I believe that politics had any hand in the strengthening and weakening of the U.S. dollar, I am going to leave the political commentary aside […]

“I thought it would be easier.” – Donald Trump I won’t add to the barrage of voices that discuss the nuances of the Trump Presidency on a daily basis.  You can get plenty of that from almost any media outlet.  However, I think President Trump’s quote reflecting on his first 100 days in office is […]

  According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy expanded at a respectable 2.6 percent in Q2. [i] This reverses two-quarters (2016Q4 and 2017Q1) of slowing GDP growth [i], and firmly establishes that the U.S. economy is expanding, albeit at a much slower pace than historic recoveries.  [ii] Much of this growth can […]

  I’m visiting London this week, and ironically, of all things, it’s to get a “real” view on Emerging Markets (EM).  What some of you may not know is that many of the leading emerging market managers are located in this great city.  Not to digress, but I’d be foolish not to gain a better […]

  We are a couple of weeks away from the first look at how the U.S. economy performed during Q2 2017.  Generally, looking in the rearview mirror is useless for investors because we all base our investment decisions on future, rather than past cash flows. However, GDP growth (the broadest measure of U.S. economic health) generally […]