Mike on Markets

Happy Friday! I get asked a lot by investors if we’re ever short the market or a particular stock. There seems to be a conceptual understanding of short selling but also a misconception of the mechanics and risks involved. Hence, I wrote a primer on short selling and why it’s best left to hedge funds…More

No weekly this week, but I recorded a 3Q2022 Market Update on Thursday for about 40 minutes. Feel free to send it along. Click Here, Passcode: Wmv0@Gq$ Moving on… $1.7 million down the drain. One of my business school professors conducted a study years ago – to see if an entrepreneur could follow the rules…More

Happy Friday! The Quarterly Update was released this week. As always, reach out if you’d like a copy. The TLDR version is that just as Metallica taught us long ago, it’s all up to the Fed, and nothing else matters. What happened? I was on the runway when CPI was released yesterday. Just as futures started…More

Happy Friday! This week I wrote about five options for clients sitting in cash. Think of it as a call to action away from the big banks. There’s free money out there, and it’s time our clients seized it! Much to discuss this week… Under pressure Without question, the most overplayed song in business school…More

Happy Friday! I wrote about why gold hasn’t been the inflation hedge that so many had expected. It’s down around 8% this year and 14% over the last six months. While it’s surprised many gold bugs, I’ve always felt that gold is more influenced by the U.S. dollar than inflation.  But don’t take my word…More

Happy Friday! I wrote about the student debt forgiveness plan this week. It’s a third-rail subject, so I tried to keep it as objective and economically/financially focused as possible. Skipped over the morality debate of whether it’s right or wrong because I’m not looking to trigger anyone, nor do I suspect anyone cares about my…More

Happy Friday! Like I said last week, I’m taking some time off from writing, but there are still a few stories worth discussing before the long weekend… This is what they want There is no Federal Reserve meeting in August because the St. Louis branch hosts a central banker conference in Jackson Hole instead.  Yes,…More

Happy Friday! I’m taking this week and next off from writing (quasi-summer break), but if you’d like an evergreen piece, just let me know. Happy to send along a few. Moving along… Let’s HOPE for a soft landing This stellar graphic from Piper Sandler depicts the roadmap for how the economy responds to rate changes.  Housing tends…More

Happy Friday! The worst part of this job is keeping up with politics and elections, but it’s important because the clown show in D.C. sets the rules of the game. Midterms are coming up in less than three months, so I wrote about the influence of politics on investing (reach out if you want a…More

Happy Friday! I’ve noticed an uptick in scary stock charts; as usual, most of them provide zero value. That’s what I wrote about this week. Hopefully, your clients will walk away with the same level of skepticism towards any chart circulated online (with obvious exception to what’s provided in this blog). As always, reach out…More