Rocket Science The second quarter of 2023 was more bizarre and tragic than the first. Following the incursion of the February Chinese spy balloons, the Pentagon admitted that there are plenty of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAPs, formerly known as UFOs) floating around. Unrest spread through France as some rioters protested the increase in the retirement […]

From an email sent to IIM investors on May 8, 2023… The federal debt limit is once again in the news as the country approaches a critical deadline on June 1. Investors are understandably nervous about Washington failing to reach an agreement, a possibility that both sides agree would be a self-inflicted catastrophe. While it’s […]

No Beautiful Balloons I don’t think The Fifth Dimension was thinking of Chines spy instruments when they asked if we wanted “to fly in my beautiful balloon,” but white balloons, which China claimed were rogue weather monitors, came traveling over the US and South America in February. The US shot down one off the East […]

From an email sent to IIM investors on March 21, 2023… The banking crisis that began in the U.S. spread to Europe late last week. Concerns over the solvency of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest “global systemically important bank” (G-SIB), were due in no small part to recent runs on U.S. banks. What made Credit […]

From an email sent to IIM investors on March 13, 2023… The recent failure of three U.S. banks has raised concerns over the economy and financial system. The situation is still evolving and there is plenty of speculation as to what might come next. One significant development is that government officials from the Treasury, Federal […]

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, […]