Beware of Risk Creep in Up Markets

While hiking in Switzerland years ago, Launa and I were surprised to see someone jump from a nearby cliff wearing what we later learned was called a wing-suit. Just before hitting the ground, the jumper pulled a small parachute and landed on his feet to great excitement from a nearby crowd. This was followed by…

Investors Love the Underdog

Americans have always had a soft spot for the underdog. Our natural compassion leads us to cheer for those who face great adversity and yet are still willing to put everything on the line, even when they know their chances of success are low. This may be partly due to our own historical underdog status…

Market Storms – A Necessary Cycle

As a new pilot I was taught that all weather on earth is caused by the uneven heating of the earth’s surface by the sun. This uneven heating causes moisture to rise and fall and air to move. As this happens, energy from the sun is distributed unevenly around the globe which, at times gets…

Pay Attention to the Little Things

The weather this week has reminded me of a time I took off from El Paso on a hot August day. It was 115 degrees when I climbed into my plane at the little Texas airfield. There was smoke in the air from local fires and the southwest heat wave was in full swing. As…

Keeping it Simple

My grandpa loved inventing contraptions. He was always looking for an easier way to do things. One of his more popular inventions with the neighborhood kids was his ice cream maker. Long before the invention of automated kitchen appliances, making homemade ice cream required turning a hand crank mixer for about 30 minutes. Grandpa would…

How to Join the Millionaire Club

As a teenager I took a summer job in Hawaii. I thought it would be a fun way to make some extra money while enjoying the islands. I had no idea when I signed up how very difficult it would be. My assignment was to plant pineapple. Planting was done by hand with a simple…