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Commentary: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

By Nancy Tengler, CEO & Chief Investment Officer

January 15, 2024. For years I taught at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California (where I received my MFA). One of my favorite sections of the advanced composition syllabus was the persuasive essay. I always chose Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail, a literary and moral masterpiece. It never fails to delight and challenge. So, today we honor and remember Dr. King — even in a commentary on the markets — for his courage and moral clarity. His determination and kindness. And his wisdom.

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Commentary: The Perfect (though not necessarily soft) Landing

By Nancy Tengler, CEO & Chief Investment Officer

A little over a week ago, during a routine Tahoe hike, I executed a perfect face plant. It’s true. I landed on my nose which landed on a slab of granite. The doctor told me my nose served as an airbag protecting the rest of my face. Yes, the snout was broken—shattered may have been the word he used—but the eye sockets, my jaw, teeth—were all intact. They stitched me up, waited for the swelling to go down and on Friday he reset the bent beak and I am back in business.

Last week I learned a perfect landing is possible. If not somewhat painful. Will that be possible for the U.S economy?

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Commentary: Beware the Hastings Cutoff

By Nancy Tengler, CEO & Chief Investment Officer

Every school-age child in California studies the desperate and tragic story of the Donner Party. Death, cannibalism, and a risk-taking gambit to take a previously unknown and un-traveled cutoff known as the Hastings Cutoff to ostensibly reach California sooner marks the deadly and disastrous trip.

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Commentary: The Proverbial Tug of War Between Fear and Greed Continues

By Nancy Tengler, CEO & Chief Investment Officer

An undergraduate degree in psychology comes in handy when investing in the markets. Think of the stock market as an interminable struggle between fear and greed. Keeping one’s wits, understanding the effects of crowds moving into and out of ideas, the treachery of group think, and the erosive impact greed can have on total return is imperative to survival. Of all the attributes that can impact an investor’s total return, however, greed is by far the worst.

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Commentary: What Could Go Right in 2023?

By Nancy Tengler, CEO & Chief Investment Officer

Sentiment will shift at some point; we want to be ahead of the pack.

Warren Buffett has said many clever things over the decades. But the following is one of my favorites: “In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” In other words, the past is crystal clear. The future? Not so much. That is why at turning points so many investors stay too long at bull market parties and bail out when bear market routs become too much to bear (pun not intended). 

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