Welcome to our archived blog page. This page includes advice and our thoughts through 2022. Please see the Prato Perspective page on our website for our most current articles.
How much risk do you need to take?
Summer Vacation For summer vacation this year I am travelling with my wife, Sharon and our dog, a Norwich Terrier named Elhe, in our RV to Colorado and New Mexico. It has been a great trip so far with beautiful scenery and wildlife sightings of bear, antelope, deer,...
Latest Inflation Report
This week, the Federal Government released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June 2021 and reported a 5.4% increase in prices from June 2020. This was the largest increase since August 2008. The most pressing concern is that the latest report follows a 5.0%...
Inflation Reports
Last week, the Federal Government released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for May 2021. The headline number of a 5.0% increase in prices from one year ago has the become the subject of many news headlines. Inflation is always a concern for consumers and...
What is the Solution?
May 17, 2021 Noise in the media While driving, I pass the time listening to the radio and the business news. Over the past few weeks, a trend in how the ‘news’ is broadcast became very noticeable to me. Each of the past 4 weeks has had a different topic that...
“American Families Plan” (AKA – Biden’s Tax Hikes
May 3, 2021 This is a very large proposal that encompasses many issues, not just increases of certain tax rates. As financial advisors and planners, we are focused on how the proposed tax increases may impact our clients. This is only proposed legislation. It is a...
Are Cryptocurrencies Really an Investment?
April 20, 2021 Over the past week several headlines about cryptocurrencies have been eye-popping. First headline: the IPO of Coinbase dominated the business headlines last week. Coinbase (COIN), the cryptocurrency exchange, completed its direct listing on the NASDAQ...
What the SPAC?
March 18, 2021 Recent financial headlines have covered the exponential growth of SPACs. Is this an investment worthy of a long-term investor’s money? SPACs (Special-purpose acquisition companies) have been around for over 30 years and have become immensely popular...
Revisiting Cryptocurrency 02/12/21
News of Tesla buying $1.5 billion of Bitcoin last week pushed the price of the cryptocurrency to record levels. Many advocates of Bitcoin viewed this as a validation of using cryptocurrency as a new class of investment. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange...
Prato Perspectives 2/4/20
Beating Wall Street? The media has emphasized how individual investors have banded together on social media sites to beat ‘Wall Street’ at their own game. A real-life story of David vs. Goliath, the small retail investor against the large hedge fund industry. Our last...
The Short-Squeeze and Gamestop
It is possible to make money when stock prices go down. That is the strategy of short sellers. From the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor.gov website: “A short sale occurs when you sell stock you do not own. Investors who sell short believe the...