A Christmas Classic
‘Twas the day before Christmas
And all through the workplace
Kristin was singing
Despite the cringe on our faces
Then up through the carols
Came a shimmering glow
‘Twas the Ghost of Johnny Cash
Here to put on a show
He grabbed my guitar
Then he started to strum
And as he sang A White Christmas
The computers started to hum
The S&P and the DOW
Rose by leaps and by bounds
All the markets were rising
To his glorious sounds
As the concert died down
And Johnny went home
I woke with a startle
‘Cuz Kristin hit me with the phone
Alas ‘twas a dream
The markets drifting at sea
Then Johnny softly whispered
Just wait ‘til 2023!!!!
Wishing all of my wonderful clients/friends a glorious holiday season and nothing but joy for 2023!!!
No Calendars for 2023 :(
There, I said it! Had to get that out in the open – to be honest I feel more than a little bad/sad about it. I have been doing that for so many years! There are a two main reasons we (I’m sharing the blame with my staff) decided to put an end to this tradition. First, I think many of my clients simply do not use wall calendars anymore, people prefer their phones or computers for jotting down appointments. Second, the environment, so many calendars end up in the garbage each January 1st? Not just the ones from the previous year but a large percentage of those for the upcoming year that people will simply not use. Each year I get a number of unsolicited calendars in my mailbox that end up in the black bin.
So to those of you that loved my calendars and still wanted to receive them I apologize. In fact, if you are over 70 (many of you are) and you are upset about not getting a calendar please call us and I will go out and buy you one! Seriously! Otherwise, you can rest assured that the money that I usually invested in these calendars will go into a wonderful charity I have recently set up as a tribute to my mother. It is a bursary for students attending a school my Mom taught at in an underprivileged part of town.
Predictions for Market in 2023
Boy! (Girl!) I bet that got your attention! We all wish we had a crystal ball and could predict the future. Well, I don’t have one of those but I still feel like I can predict the future of the stock market. Here goes, in writing… my prediction is… over the next ten years the market will move up more than it moves down.
You may feel that is a little anti-climactic and you are right, it is. Then again, most knowledgeable investors are kind of boring because it is that sort of very dreary prediction that motivates them to invest in stocks. They know equities will go up over time and they simply don’t pay attention to the never ending world crisis’ of the day.
Contrary to popular belief, the human race is nothing short of brilliant, (I’m talking in very general terms here – we can all think of an individual or 2 that are not the sharpest tools in the shed). From the invention of tools and fire and wheels to the Artificial Intelligent (AI) gadgets of today our species continues to progress and invest in areas that will facilitate our lives and protect our way of life on earth (let’s hope so anyway). Perhaps, I may seem off topic from the accumulation of wealth but I am not at all. It is essentially these constant technological improvements that drive the world’s economy and provide me with the confidence to go ahead and make the bold prediction I made above … I am such a guru! J
Sometimes when I can’t sleep I will listen to BBC News podcasts … the other night I learned so much but the theme that stuck with me was about AI. The host read the intro to a piece about how we are getting to the point that we cannot tell the difference between what a robot has written and what a human has written … guess what … the intro was written by a robot!!! Apparently, these Chatbots can write a University level essay on pretty much anything in a matter of seconds! I really could have used that for my Sociology course (hated sociology… must have been the prof).
Investing for the Future aka Socially Responsible Investing
My above point is in fact the perfect segue to not ignoring the pillars of ESG (Environment-Social-Governance) when thinking about future returns. The proof has always been there, that is, socially responsible investing does not hurt returns but now we are seeing more and more proof that it actually improves potential returns. It simply makes sense, look at any news conference or read any magazine – people (investors) are paying attention and those companies that refuse to acknowledge a need for change will lag, they are falling behind their forward thinking competitors.
At the end of the day we all want to make money and at the end of the day we all want to make this world a better place for the citizens of the world today and tomorrow. It is a wonderful feeling to know that one does not have to preclude the other. If you want me to pursue a more ESG friendly approach with your portfolio please just let us know. Of course, I already do this in many ways as any company I feel is totally offside I would not invest in simply because their fundamentals are likely suspect as well.
Personal Thoughts
- Rosanna, my lovely wife, has been retired for 3 years now from teaching. Rosanna is seriously busier now than she has ever been … it is very annoying – she is always gone somewhere – she is out more than I am and I have a full-time job!!! Golfing 5x a week I think qualifies as a job. But now its winter, so she is taking art classes – including lunch that is 6 hours a week. Alas, add another get together a week with her art friends and of course working on her masterpieces – I’m thinking she is up to 30-40hrs a week on an easel or talking about her easel with her friends over a glass of vino. Now she also has me curling with her golf friends and taking ballroom dance lessons with her golf friends (she spends just as much time with her golf friends in the winter as she does in the summer). No, I am not jealous! I’m happy she has figured out retirement – I seriously think I would go crazy – I can’t draw on paper or on the golf course (but I can slice J).
- Now that I have talked about Rosanna… my real wife… it is important to note an amazing milestone Kristin (my work wife) and I have achieved. December 3rd marked 25 years that Kristin and I have been working together!!! That is seriously not something many teams in any firm can boast about. Together, we have built a wonderful business and we hope to continue that journey for at least a few more years!!!!