A Year of Geopolitical, Economic and Financial Tectonic shifts. The earth seemed to tilt on its axis in 2022 more than usual. Russia invaded the Ukraine in February and both sides battled throughout the year. North Korea launched ballistic missiles over Japan. China threatened Taiwan’s independence. The UK lost its monarch of over 70 years […]

Below are five videos containing Q&A about the economy in 2022. You can also download a PDF of the full slidedeck here at this link. Video 1: Intro and TL;DR Version Video 2: History & Sentiment Video 3: Economic Indicators Video 4: Rates & Housing Video 5: Elections & Cycles Pls let me know if […]

This Is The End No, it’s not the end of my investment career, but these are the last song lyrics I’ll write for you. (Edward Bear). Hopefully, we are coming to the end of the Fed’s utilizing interest rates to wage war on inflation, but in the meantime, Putin’s continued annexation of Ukraine, the drop […]

From an email sent to IIM investors on September 15, 2022… The upside to challenging weeks in the market like this one is that they remind us that long-term investment success requires patience. It’s important to never focus on or overreact to short-term market performance – especially after a single day. However, it’s also valuable […]

From an email sent to IIM investors on July 20, 2022… As the economy responds to inflationary pressures, investors continue to struggle with daily price swings across the stock market. This level of market volatility can be disorienting, and some may even want to wait it out on the sidelines. While that may be tempting, […]

I Believe in Yesterday I remember yesterday – before COVID-19, the Great Resignation, the Russo-Ukrainian war; before inflation surged and the S&P had the worst first half in fifty years and before ducks landed in our pool. We don’t mind if all the neighborhood critters come and clean up dropped birdseed, but why swim in […]

From an email sent out to IIM investors on June 14, 2022: Good evening, IIM investors. The S&P 500 officially fell to bear market levels this week. Rapid inflation across the economy has affected consumers and businesses, raising questions about spending and corporate profits. These pressures have pushed interest rates higher across the curve, breaking […]

From an email sent out to IIM investors on May 12th, 2022: Good evening, IIM investors. The optimistic contrarian is the rarest of investors. Pessimism can make it hard to distinguish between exaggerated and real risks – and is often taken more seriously than optimism…which, in times of stress, can be hard to distinguish from […]

Just Another Megalomaniac Monday Equity markets uncomfortably faced higher inflation and interest rate hikes going in to 2022, but as masks came off and supply chains loosened, there were signs of optimism. Then Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, decided to get the USSR band back together and invaded Ukraine. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, […]

From an email sent out to IIM investors on Feb 27th, 2022: Good morning, IIM investors. For long-term investors, periods of geopolitical risk are unavoidable. This week’s events in Ukraine are troubling and evolving rapidly. A major world power invading a free sovereign nation is of enormous historical significance. And though I am skeptical of […]