General

Market Recap The S&P 500 reached a 2023 high at the end of July before selling off 7.5% through August and September to finish the quarter down 3.3%. Year-to-date the index remains up a solid [...]

Market Recap Global equities continued to rally in the second quarter, led by surging U.S. mega-cap technology and growth stocks, particularly anything related to Artificial Intelligence (AI). [...]

Thoughts on The Debt Ceiling Impasse The United States reached its borrowing limit (debt ceiling) back on January 19, and the Treasury Department estimates that unless the limit is raised, the [...]

The story of the Silicon Valley Bank is by now well known, and the failure of First Republic Bank has become recent news. While the immediate contagion risk has been addressed by aggressive [...]

Market Recap Despite the stress in the banking system, including the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, global equity markets held up remarkably well in March and posted solid returns for the [...]

Recent problems in the banking industry have increased uncertainty in the financial markets. In this email, I will summarize the circumstances at Silicon Valley Bank that led to its failure and [...]

A lot has happened since the beginning of the year. The biggest macro event is Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. While the human impact has been devastating and tragic—and our hearts and [...]

Investment Portfolios in Today’s Uncertain Times It has been a choppy start to the year and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only added to the volatility so we wanted to share some of [...]

American Rescue Plan Act. The federal government recently passed a third stimulus package called the American Rescue Plan Act. Eligible individuals and families will receive stimulus checks up to [...]

Q1 2020 Client Letter Dear Ascent Client: We are living through an extraordinary period in history. The impact on our families, communities, and country has been profound. The United States and [...]