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Many of us have lived through financial downturns that economists call recessions. But there’s a more serious kind of downturn that the experts call a depression. So, what’s the difference between the two? Economists often disagree on exact definitions. But there is an old joke they like to tell: A recession is when your neighbor…

Since late last week, there has been a bit of market turmoil related directly to the banking sector; more specifically, that federal regulators closed the 16th largest bank in the US, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). There is more than a little media coverage of the situation, so we won’t over-editorialize the situation or get too…

A friend recently returned from Ireland with a few scary stories. He and his wife had rented a car for a few days to explore some castles. Several of the old fortresses, they were told, were haunted. But ghosts in the towers were not the cause of their hair-raising experiences. It was the country roads…
Growth Reports

Quarterly Client Letter – 2022 Q4 – Provided by Mark K. Lund, Financial Advisor
Every January, it’s typical to reflect on market data from the year past. You’ll see the results in your own quarterly reports, as well as across the usual flurry of broad market analyses. Even when the numbers aren’t what we’d prefer—which has certainly been the case for 2022—we look at them anyway. It’s good to…

If They Can Predict the Weather, Why Not the Stock Market? Humans have always had a strong desire to know the future. Soon after writing was developed in ancient Mesopotamia the Babylonians began using it to catalog thousands of auguries—observances of natural phenomena that they believed could predict major events.1 We still want to know…

The difference between planning ahead and worrying ahead When was the last time you watched the entire safety demonstration by an airline cabin crew? If you’ve traveled enough, you could probably stand up and give most of the presentation yourself. Using props like a seatbelt, an oxygen mask, and a lifejacket, the attendants talk about…