One day, when I was seven years old and had just learned how to do long subtraction, I took a piece of lined paper and wrote the number 2000 at the top of the page. Beneath it, I wrote the number 1948, put a minus sign to the left of it, a line under it, and did the subtraction. The result was fifty-two. That was how I discovered, to my horror, that I would be fifty-two years old at the beginning of the next century.
Read MoreIn 1980, shortly after being hired at Citicorp Investment Management, Inc. (CIMI was how we referred to ourselves), I was introduced to Bob Davis, a full-blooded Texan, who ran the company’s investment office in Houston. We had important things in common—primarily, our youth (we were both thirty-two at the time) our passion for the world of investing, and our endless drive.
Read MoreAmericans are among the most generous people in the world. Charities Aid Foundation, a UK-based charity compiling data from 140 countries, creates an annual country-by-country index of charitable giving. It is constructed from three forms of activity: donating money, volunteering time, and helping strangers. In 2022, the United States ranked #3, closely behind Indonesia and Kenya, two countries where religion plays a strong role in the culture of giving.
Read MoreThree months ago, at the end of December, President Biden signed into law a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package that covered the gamut from defense appropriations, to funding for Ukraine’s military in its war with Russia, to emergency disaster assistance for the west and southwest areas of the country impacted by natural disasters. Buried deep inside that 4000 page document was also a two-year extension of a number of telehealth provisions for Medicare patients. Some may react by saying, “That’s great.” However, I say, “Why was that extension for only two years? Why not forever?”
Read MoreSome of the greatest scandals in the world of investments have involved insider trading, which is taking advantage of significant non-public information to reap personal profits from stock transactions. Anyone who has worked in the financial industry can appreciate and understand the validity of both the letter and the spirit of the regulations surrounding inside information.
Read MoreIt may seem like an understatement to say that 2022 was an unpleasant year in the stock market when the total return on the S&P500 was a negative 18.1%, but as down markets go, there have been far worse. Remember 2008 when the index declined a whopping 36.5%?
Read MoreIt’s been well over a dozen years since the last sustained “bear market” in this country, defined as a twenty percent correction in stock prices from a recent high. The COVID-related crash in March of 2020 was technically a bear market, but its duration was so short and the subsequent bull market so strong, that it created little to none of the anxiety associated with a traditional bear market.
Read MoreThere was a time, not more than three years ago, when the waitlist to purchase a commuter parking space at the local train station (in my suburb of New York City) was between eighteen and twenty-four months. By 6:15am on any Monday through Friday, the parking lot that clung to both sides of the tracks had not a single empty space.
Read MoreIt’s of value to remember the quote from the great American statesman, Senator John McCain, who, in 2015 upon returning from a visit to Ukraine, said, “Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.”
There is a wise and witty lady who lives in Annapolis, Maryland. Her name is Marion. She has a keen mind, a wicked sense of humor and is proud to let you know that she is ninety years old. She had recently been exposed to COVID and alerted her family and friends that she would be getting tested, promising to share the results as soon as they were available.
Read MoreA great friend of mine in London, Katie Brewer, has a podcast entitled "Bandwidth Conversations," on which she interviews artists, performers and rock stars of life.
Read MoreWhen I was a little girl, the Old Testament story about Methuselah was one I found fascinating. It was a true story—I knew that because I’d been taught that the Bible was the word of God and represented truth.
Read MoreThere would have been flights to book, people to invite, and maybe even a little haggling: “Why can’t Aunt Lydia come to our house this year? She was with you last year.”
Read MoreBy almost any measure, the level of employment in this country has recovered miraculously since the frightening days of the onset of COVID. From an impressive low of 3.5% in February of 2020, unemployment spiked to a frightening 14.8% just two months later.
Read MoreEarly morning walks—just as the sun is rising—are my favorite form of exercise. Three to four miles, and I’m set for the day. I think of it as both energizing my body and, equally as important, oxygenating my blood, so that my brain can function at full capacity for the next twelve hours.
Read MoreHer name is Gabby and she and I have been friends since she entered the sixth grade at Our Lady Queen of Angels School (OLQA) on 112th Street in East Harlem. That was seven years ago.
Read MoreA daily distraction in a busy life is the hazard of misplacing things, or more accurately forgetting where items have been left – most often very useful ones: eyeglasses, cell phone, wallet, hearing aids, face mask and on and on. In my office, that can include a favorite pen, even my still warm cup of tea. As the ad for the ghost busting agency in the movie, Ghostbusters, asked (and do pardon the appalling grammar), “Who you gonna call?”
Read MoreSome holidays are accompanied with fanfare – of the fireworks sort. Others are somber events, celebrated with flags and flowers on gravestones. There are also religious holidays – better known as holy days – which generally entail going to church, and some holidays celebrate history with parades and bands. Mother’s Day falls into none of those categories. It’s a “quiet” holiday – meant just for the family.
Read MoreIt was June 1989 when the movie, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” came out. I gagged at the title – not because the idea of shrinking the kids was abhorrent; it sounded rather whimsical. But because of the title’s egregious grammatical error.
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