Alone With My Thoughts

Thanks to Kevin Caron at www.washingtoncrossingadvisors.com we get to consider this…Back to the old Buttonwood tree in NYC in 1790, when the value of stocks were first calculated, it took over 200 years  for the US stock market to top $16 trillion in value.  Based on today’s current value, we have risen by $16 trillion in market value since the pandemic BEGAN.  A recession and health crisis that produced a $16 trillion gain in value, go figure.  One, it shows the law of large numbers and too, it may be pointing to some inflation momentum in financial assets.  Speaking of inflation, again this past week, Janet Yellen stuck with her premise that we are in a “transitory” period of higher prices, yet today social security payments were adjusted higher by almost 6%.  Social security payments do not go lower so the only thing transitory is the money leaving your pockets.

Katy Milkman, a behavioral scientist at the Wharton School has written about “the fresh start effect”, or the effect that birthdays, the start of a new season or other landmark dates have on our ability to make changes to our lives. For example, with back to school and the fall season upon us, we may be more inclined to begin a new healthy and or profitable habit. So pump the brakes on the pumpkin lager and pumpkin spice drinks and pour your savings into a compounding investment and kick off a new fall beginning.