Mike on Markets

Happy Friday! September is over, and just like every year, it sucked.  It was the first losing month in the S&P 500 (down 4.76%) since January. It was also the worst overall month since – you guessed it – last September. I’ve said this many times before, but I just don’t know why September has…More

Happy Friday! I wrote about Evergrande this week and why I think the phrase “Lehman moment” is being misused.  If it’s to define what could be the tipping point for an over-levered sector to correct in an society voluntarily moving back towards famine (aka “communism”), then yes it very well could be a “Lehman moment.”…More

Happy Friday! I’m hosting a webinar on Monday discussing M&A in RIA-land. I’m going to talk about what you can do to make your practice attractive to an acquirer, how to build enterprise value, and then what you should be thinking about if you are out there looking to acquire. This week, I wrote about…More

Happy Friday! I was trolling through my digital archive of sarcasm the other day, which is obviously extensive, and I came across something that made me smile: This nugget became the inspiration for this week’s piece. I love quoting smart and famous people because it makes me appear as smart and famous as those I…More

Happy Friday! I wrote this week about the dangers of concentrated holdings. Because tell me if this sounds familiar… You have a client with a few million in investible assets. Roughly 95% of it is in one stock that was either handed down to them from parents or they don’t want to pay taxes on…More

Happy Friday! This week’s piece is sort of a call to action for clients and advisors. I’ve said for years now that the 60/40 approach was like bringing a knife to a gunfight. So, I wrote a comprehensive note on why I think this to be the case.  Please take the time to carefully read…More

Happy Friday! Quiet week with exception of continued theft, regulatory action, and more tulips budding in crypto land. So, I wrote a primer on how the Fed works and why the upcoming nomination for Fed chair in February is a big deal. Yeah, I know this stuff can be boring, but if anyone other than Powell gets the look,…More

Happy Friday! This week I tackled yet another useless stock market debate – growth vs. value investing. I have no idea why people treat this like Democrats vs. Republicans but they do. As in, one side is right and the other is philosophically insane. My conclusion is that both styles have their place. It’s like…More

The big news this week (sort of) has been the rally in the bond market. The 10-year Treasury yield closed on Thursday at 1.3%, which is down 44 bps (34%) from the end of March. That’s a big move in bonds! So, to recap, the bond market got smacked the first three months of the…More

Happy Friday! I enjoy laughing at day traders, but that’s not because I think trading is stupid and/or doesn’t work. You absolutely can make money trading markets. It’s just really hard to do it consistently. That’s what I wrote about this week – what it takes to be a trader. The short version is that…More