Originally Published on January 12, 2014 Blessing Counting Family : All in the Shink Clan are well and wish the best for all of our friends and clients First World : We all live in a top rate first world country – I would say USA is #1 by a huge margin, but let’s try to stay humble Food : We all like to eat, right? Make sure you eat right though Heat : Energy supplies are growing and we can all stay warm this chilly winter for less$$ Portfolio Results : Huge market in 20

The S&P 500 posted a positive quarter rising 4.7%. Over the last twelve months, the S&P is up a bit over 17%. For full coverage see http://markets.on.nytimes.com/research/markets/usmarkets/usmarkets.asp As we continue to benefit from a market that climbs the proverbial “Wall of Worry”, there is another showdown / negotiation / stalemate in our federal government. Sounds of Hedgehogs Where can we turn for a reasonable forecast of… The economy? Jobs and unemployment? Presidenti

Originally Published on July 7, 2013 http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/ for full coverage. Uncertain Times It is always fascinating to hear the pundits and publicity seekers that appear in financial media television and print speak of the uncertain and perilous times that we now live in. One can only wonder when the times were more clear and certain. A reasonable estimate would be . The day of clarity has never been and will not be showing up any time soon. Forget about it.

Originally Published on April 8, 2013 S&P up 10% YTD March 9, 2013 was the forty eight month anniversary of the bottom of our recent global financial crisis. On Monday 3-25-13 Cyprus was filling leading financial headlines around the world. The story was full of dread and panic that the Cypriot banking system was on the verge of collapse and that it would begin a domino effect into other banking systems in southern Europe. My first reaction was confusion that I had not hear