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Current Events
What We Have Been Reading – Market Commentary & Beyond

Our team regularly reads articles from industry peers and trusted resources to stay up to date on financial markets.  We enjoy reading about topics related to economics, investments, current events, and financial planning.

In addition to circulating some of the best pieces internally, we thought our clients, partners, and friends might enjoy reading some of the same articles as us.

Here are 9 recent pieces that our team members have read, along with some commentary on why we found the respective articles interesting.

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Current Events
What Just Happened?

You likely heard about Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) this past weekend, and by now, you’ve probably also heard that the government took actions to quell fears that SVB’s failure might lead to a broader “contagion” effect. It seems as though the bank will, in fact, “fail” in the sense that its debt and equity will suffer or be wiped out…but customers will not lose their deposits, even temporarily.
What follows is a brief recap of what happened, and what it means for investors who don’t bank with SVB, but who are concerned about the downstream effects of its failure on their portfolios.

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Current Events
What We Have Been Reading – Market Commentary & Beyond

Our team regularly reads articles from industry peers and trusted resources to stay up to date on financial markets. We enjoy reading about topics related to economics, investments, current events, and financial planning.
In addition to circulating some of the best pieces internally, we thought our clients, partners, and friends might enjoy reading some of the same articles as us.
We received great feedback on the articles we circulated in the first two quarters of 2022, so we wanted to follow up with some more!
Here are eight recent pieces that our team members have read, along with some commentary on why we found the respective articles interesting.

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Current Events
Looking Back, Looking Forward

Over the next month or so, we’ll all be bombarded by a variety of investment professionals’ recaps of the economic and market landscape.  Big firms, small firms, banks, brokers, economists, investment advisors and others all have their spin on what happened during 2022.  At SWP, we don’t often provide general market commentary; typically, we only comment on specific and unusual events that may cause investors to consider changing their plan. Put another way, we like to share thoughts on things that really matter to our clients and tune out the noise.

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Current Events
What We Have Been Reading – Market Commentary & Beyond

Our team regularly reads articles from industry peers and trusted resources to stay up to date on financial markets. We enjoy reading about topics related to economics, investments, current events, and financial planning.
In addition to circulating some of the best pieces internally, we thought our clients, partners, and friends might enjoy reading some of the same articles as us.
We received great feedback on the articles we circulated in the first two quarters of 2022, so we wanted to follow up with some more!
Here are eight recent pieces that our team members have read, along with some commentary on why we found the respective articles interesting.

Read More
Current Events
What We Have Been Reading – Market Commentary & Beyond

Our team regularly reads articles from industry peers and trusted resources to stay up to date on financial markets. We enjoy reading about topics related to economics, investments, current events, and financial planning.
In addition to circulating some of the best pieces internally, we thought our clients, partners, and friends might enjoy reading some of the same articles as us.
We received great feedback on the articles we circulated in the first quarter of 2022, so we wanted to follow up with some more!

Read More
Current Events
How to Help the Highland Park Community

I grew up in Highland Park and chose to move back 3 years ago to raise my family.  Several of our team members and literally hundreds of our clients and their families share a similar story, as either current or former residents (or both).  Unfortunately, on July 4th, our town became the latest victim of an epidemic that our country cannot seem to rid itself of.  I am profoundly sad, and extremely angry that we all face the possibility of being a victim of gun violence as part of our daily lives.

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Current Events
Thoughts On the Economy and Markets (Deep Breaths!)

I filled up my car with gas the other day, and it cost $91.78. Good times!

As I reflect on the first five months of 2022, expensive gas is certainly one thing that sticks out. Inflation is running at +/- 40-year highs, and we are all feeling it one way or another. Even my Starbucks Venti Cold Brew costs 25% more than a year ago!
I find the economy and financial markets so interesting because of how intertwined everything is. For example, rising inflation impacts corporate earnings, which, in turn, impacts stock prices. To be sure, some companies benefit from inflation, but many more are hurt by it.

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Current Events
Should I Stay or Should I Go?

There’s no sugarcoating it; the current state of the markets has many of our clients thinking like the 1981 punk rock classic by The Clash:

Should I stay or should I go now?

If I go, there will be trouble

And if I stay it will be double

So come on and let me know

Should I stay or should I go?*

I don’t suspect that the song was meant as a commentary on portfolio management strategies. (In fact, the band has never disclosed any real meaning to the lyrics.)  Nonetheless, I do think it provides an appropriate framework for examining today’s investment world.

So, let’s take a look at the cases for “going” and for “staying.”

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