Anyone who grew up in California may remember the grocery store chain called Alpha Beta. Alpha Beta was known for organizing their groceries in alphabetical order. Shopping there as a kid was always fun, because you could easily just head to the “C” aisle and quickly load up on candy and chocolate and off [...]

Our planet just can’t seem to catch a break. Just as countries, economies and markets were all beginning to emerge from last year’s Omicron surge, Putin did the unthinkable and invaded neighboring Ukraine with a ferocity and brutality that shocked the rest of the civilized world. Six weeks after the invasion, we continue to [...]

Ugh. If there ever was just one word to describe the markets of January 2022, that might be it. If the past month seems like one of the worst starts to the year you can remember in recent history, congratulations, you would be correct. Perhaps there’s an opportunity as a Jeopardy! contestant in your [...]

1983 was thirty-eight years ago. 1983, seemingly innocuous, was a rather remarkable year as 106 million viewers tuned in to watch the final episode of M*A*S*H and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi was released into theaters. David Bowie’s Let’s Dance hit the top of the US billboards and Michael Jackson’s iconic music video, [...]

Nobody ever said reopening the planet was going to be easy. With roughly a quarter of the world’s population now vaccinated against Covid-19, surging economic activity combined with wobbly supply chains have created massive imbalances throughout the global economy. The daunting logistical challenges of the world’s reboot are perhaps best epitomized by mishaps such [...]

“What a difference a year makes,” might seem to be a bit cheeky of a cliché to describe the passage of ‘The Year That Seemed to Last a Lifetime’ for all of humanity, however, here we are: 14 months after the global shutdown, 1.3 billion doses of vaccine have now been administered as more [...]

With 2020 thankfully over, many of us are now casting a hopeful eye towards 2021. Incredible advancements in gene sequencing and medical technology have allowed humanity to diagnose a deadly and devastating novel virus, use new techniques to create multiple versions of an effective vaccine and then initiate the largest vaccination campaign in modern [...]

It is hard to believe fall has already arrived, ushering in the start of Q4. The end of summer was particularly challenging as COVID-weary Californians endured horrific wildfires in yet another addition to the “Things We’d Like to Forget About 2020” list. After a September swoon in the equity markets, Q4 has started off [...]

If there ever was a poster child for the definition of “disruption,” the year 2020 would certainly be it. In these first seven months we have dealt with one shock after another - the global healthcare crisis, rising political, social, and civil unrest, incredible market volatility and the largest economic intervention the modern world [...]

There are not enough superlatives in the English language that can adequately describe the magnitude and impact that the COVID-19 crisis has thrust upon the world. Life as we knew it has suddenly and inexorably ended and we now find ourselves navigating through one upheaval after the next in markets, economies, education and healthcare [...]