My Annual “No Prediction For the New Year” Letter – 2023 Edition
So, one year is set aside for the history books while a new year begins. Like lemmings to the sea, Wall Street firms are once again publishing, distributing and rushing towards every cable TV camera that will have them to prognosticate where financial markets are heading. Want to know how well they predicted last year? […]
If this feels so bad, why do we keep doing it?
These have been difficult days. That was a bad quarter, and it’s been a bad year. This is what these things look like, or more importantly, this is what these things feel like. While the causes for market declines, bear markets and even recessions vary and each one is unique, how they feel is always […]
Hockey Fight
Growing up, I played some hockey. Most kids in our neighborhood played pond hockey (probably the best kind of hockey), with those wearing galoshes relegated to playing goalie. Some of us went on the play house league and eventually high school hockey. My brothers were all very good, and I was… well, I made the […]
The Limits of Preparing for Evil
A long time ago, when I was a broker trainee at Securities Corporation of Iowa, I would end my week by taking a ten-mile run on the Cedar Valley Nature Trail with a portfolio management intern. We were the two youngest members of the firm: I, a recent graduate of the University of Iowa and […]
Tax Filing: Are You Ready?
If you’re like most taxpayers, there’s probably a file or folder in your home that will soon fill up with tax forms and receipts. While it may be tempting to put off the day of reckoning, April 15th will be here before we know it! The sooner you start organizing your return, the less stress you’re likely to […]
My “No Prediction For Next Year” Letter: 2022 Edition
Was it just me, or did 2021 go by fast? Now that it’s January, about all the investment industry firms are posting their predictions for financial markets in 2022. Not at Iowa Wealth Management, though. We don’t make predictions on the direction of financial markets, the economy or what numbers to play in the lotto. […]
Christmas at Costco
It was the Saturday before Christmas, just before store opening when I pulled my SUV into the Costco parking lot, selected a parking place that would offer minimal chances of door dings, took one last swig of Starbucks® and headed into the store’s vestibule. It was ten minutes before opening, and while most waited in […]
Labor Day – Valuing Those Who Work and the Quiet Dignity of Work Itself
I was traveling through southern Minnesota. It was 2:30pm and it had already been a long day. Some days are like that, just a little more taxing than others. The clients and the client meetings had been fine, but the outside world seemed to be crumbling while I drove. Half a world away, Afghanistan was falling to the Taliban, […]
What Capitalism Does
We’re halfway through 2021, and it’s safe to assume most investors are pleased with the performance of their accounts. Financial markets behaved well the first six months of the year and especially favored larger dividend paying stocks. Fine by me as I favor them as well. So, why have financial markets favored larger dividend paying […]
Thoughts About Inflation
Anyone who’s bought anything recently knows… prices are going up. I used to pay about $25 for a tank of gas for my Honda CR-V, now I pay about $35. My grocery bill is up maybe $10 more every week, and the quote I received from my remodel contractor was more than what it would’ve […]