The second half of 2025 is underway.  And now that we’ve enjoyed our final Fourth of July festivities before the big Bisesquicentennial celebrations next year (250 years is hard to believe – I can still remember standing on the side of the road in back in 1976 watching the Bicentennial Wagon Train Pilgrimage roll by as it wrapped up its … Read More

The explosive rise of artificial intelligence has made semiconductors the new oil, but electricity may become the new constraint. As demand for data centers surges, driven by large language models and the companies that are building them, America’s power grid is being pushed to its limits. The U.S. is beginning to face a growing energy crisis, compounded by geopolitical tensions … Read More

It all seems very bizarre.  I was born in 1973, so three ubiquitous kid fears were subconsciously ingrained into my adolescent and adult subconscious.  One is an irrational feeling of alarm at the sight of nuclear power plant cooling towers (Three Mile Island accident in 1979).  Another  is the omnipresent threat that the world will be spontaneously obliterated by global … Read More

“That’s some bad hat, Harry” – Chief Martin Brody, Jaws, 1975 It is the golden anniversary for the summer blockbuster.  The movie that began the wave of packing theaters during the summer was Jaws, which is still the seventh highest grossing movie of all time on an inflation adjusted basis.  The genius of the film that captivated audiences during the … Read More

“The water understands Civilization well; It wets my foot, but prettily, It chills my life, but wittily, It is not disconcerted It is not broken-hearted: Well used, it decketh joy, Adorneth, doubleth joy:” – Water | Ralph Waldo Emerson (1867) It’s been an outcome that has been vexing many market analysts and investment pundits for much of the spring.  The … Read More

Although summer does not officially begin until June 20, my mental view of seasons is grouped by the months.  Summer: June, July, August;  Fall: September, October, November;  Winter: December, January, February;  Spring: March, April, May.  So with summer already getting underway in this writer’s mind, it’s a good time to look ahead to the key themes to watch across the … Read More

“The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:  The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep  Moans round with many voices.  Come, my friends,  ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world”  –Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1842  For more than a decade, the U.S. stock market has resoundingly dominated its global developed international and emerging/frontier counterparts.  But … Read More

Stocks are sailing.  It’s extraordinary to consider that in just six astral weeks, the U.S. stock market has transformed from cascading endlessly to the downside to magnificently floating to the upside.

“I’m singing this note ’cause it fits in well with the chords I’m playingI can’t pretend there’s any meaning hidden in the things I’m sayingBut I’m in tuneRight in tune” – Getting In Tune, The Who, 1971 It is the unexpected beauty of the Liberation Day tariff announcements from just over a month ago.  When you initially announce tariffs against … Read More

April was a turbulent month for global financial markets, characterized by heightened uncertainty and sharp price swings. Just three months into the Trump Administration, sweeping shifts in trade policy – most notably a 10% import tariff announced on April 2nd – rattled investor confidence. The announcement fueled concerns over rising inflation and increased borrowing costs, prompting sell-offs across both equity … Read More