Photo Credit: Dan Tremper, USCG The war in Iran is so much in the news, and I have so little to add, that I avoided writing to you at all. The situation changes every day. Whatever I say will likely turn out wrong, and quickly! So let's talk about something related, but slightly different. The stock market didn't get the memo that we have a war in progress, and that 20% of the world's oil supply is bottled up inside the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, the market bounces along

Welcome to 2026, where news from the stock market has so far been pretty good. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has appreciated by 4% so far this year. It won't do that continuously, but 4% up beats 4% down. Last year went well also for your stock investments. To be sure, valuations in the stock market have grown very high. By some measures (see Shiller P/E Ratio ), valuations have moved almost to the levels which they reached just prior to the dot com crash. The Shille

Image Credit: ChatGPT Advances in AI technology lead me to contemplate the future of work, as I'm sure you have done also. Which professions does AI threaten and which ones remain safe? AI has disrupted computer programming already, and the future looks iffy for many service professionals. Meanwhile, hairdressers appear safe, at least for now, and I think psychologists do too. Would you confide your deepest, most personal issues to an AI chatbot, and then wonder where tha

Photographer: Ron Bennett, HUD When markets collapse, I find it pretty easy to write another email to you. The bad news of the day poses...