CRE – Impending Doom
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz The financial spotlight this past week has been on New York Community Bank (NYSE: NYCB) with its rather disappointing earnings for Q4 2023. Since reporting last Thursday, NYCB’s share price has tumbled more than 50% (congratulations to any short sellers out there), and the market is having Déjà vu […]
New Tax Credits For Startup 401(k) Plans
Updated provisions in the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 offer small employers affordable options to start a workplace retirement plan. And, a newly-established employer-sponsored retirement plan could bring you some pretty significant savings. Here’s how. Retirement Plan Start-up Credit Eligible employers who adopt a new plan can claim a credit for up to 100% of […]
Rate Cuts Are Coming!
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz Are we experiencing a soft landing? Is the most anticipated recession in history about to commence? In a recent panel at the Titan Investors Global Business Connections in Miami, I queried a lineup of leading CIOs about the Goldilocks economic data and the overly optimistic market sentiment. Although the feedback […]
What is Private Credit?
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz Let’s take a step back for a moment and review how a traditional bank works. In general, a bank receives money through customer deposits and ultimately lends those deposits out to customers for business and household purposes (such as mortgages, auto loans, real estate loans, revolving credit, etc.). The difference […]
2023 In Review
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz 2023 was the year of Taylor Swift! We have it under good authority that Taylor Swift helped boost US GDP this year… but on to a more serious note: From global bank failures to the AI revolution, 2023 was action packed. For investors, there were big opportunities for those willing […]
The U.S. Consumer: Buy Now Pay (hopefully) Later
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz Following the record Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales last week, the “Strong U.S. consumer” headline has resurfaced once again. People are buying things, which means the economy is strong…right? Well, our investment team aligns with what billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffen said earlier this month: The U.S. needs […]
How to Read Treasury Auctions
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz U.S. Treasuries, a usually boring security, have become one of the most widely talked about investments in 2023. We have even started to see commercials from brokerage houses and investment platforms that offer everyday investors access to “Treasury Bills” paying X amount. They market these government backed investments as the […]
Carbon Capture: The Future of ESG
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz “To green, or not to green, that is the question” – William Atmospeare We’ve talked a lot about ESG in a past commentary. In financial markets, it’s a label worn by mostly underperforming, high fee funds as a marketing pitch to attract investors. In corporate America, it has been a […]
Finally: Atlanta Michelin Guide
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz A little background: The Michelin Guide has become the “restaurant bible” in the culinary world. Yes, the guide is owned by the French tire company with its roots going back to the early 1900’s. Over the last 100 years, Michelin inspectors have been reviewing and crowning restaurants and chefs alike […]
Watches & Cars Part II
By Kelvin Lee, Alonso Munoz It’s been a year since our last hobby post, and a lot has changed. In the second part of our series of watches and cars, we give an update on our favorite leisurely pursuits. Watches fall, everything else rises. Since the last time I wrote about watches, the S&P has […]
