“Wine is just like a person, absorbing influences around it to form its personality.” – Erin Lindstone
Autumn has been SLOWLY approaching here in Texas. While we’re usually ready to switch from chilled white wines to light/medium-bodied reds, it is still hot enough to cook an egg on a sidewalk (with some reprieve in the near future!).
Learn More from Vino 101 – September 2023: Late-Summer Whites
As we look forward to summer’s end and the beginning of fall, we are reminded of parallels between the changing of the seasons and the seasonality of owning a business.
Even with the downgrade, the US is still considered by many the safe haven and safe port in the storm, and the US has many strengths due to its a high-income well-diversified economy.
Learn More from August Special Market Update – August 2023: Downgrade Drama
Recently, The National Weather Service and NOAA announced that there is a greater than 90% chance that El Niño will continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter. Weather patterns like El Niño and La Niña have historically affected commodities since they tend to bring more severe weather patterns.
Learn More from Market Brief – July 2023: Whether Weather Withers Wealth?
The S&P 500 acts like the bull market is in full swing and running hard. Through the end of May, the S&P 500 was up 8.86%, the NASDAQ up 23.59% and Russell 1000 Growth Index up 20.23%.
While this is a rapidly developing story (that may even get resolved by the time I release this brief), it’s important to discuss the current debt ceiling debacle. This is, by far, one of the dumbest games of chicken we have played economically and politically in decades.
The sheer variety of wine is what makes it such an exciting topic. While it can be easy to think of the popular choices like Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, there are over 10,000 different grape varieties that we know of.
Beware of the ides of March warns of trouble brewing in the month of March. The Ides of March specifically refers to the 74th day in the Roman calendar which corresponds to March 15th.
Groundhog Day is happening again in Washington, where we last played this silly game in 2011. The US Government is currently on track to repeat that disastrous debt ceiling stalemate which cost the USA its AAA credit rating.
Learn More from Market Brief – February 2023: Let’s Talk About Debt, Baby
Although Congress is divided and everyone (including the markets) anticipates gridlock for the next two years, late last year Congress passed the Secure 2.0 Act as a part of the overall budget bill.
Learn More from Market Brief – January 2023: The Secure 2.0 Act