September 2015

Janet Yellen pulled the markets offside with a hard count yesterday.  Instead of a hike, we heard about global weakness that suddenly warrants the Fed’s attention.  The market reacted as though there was a hike – you could say we’ve been in the red zone the last two days (I can’t help myself).  Most concerning is that the Fed continues to move the goalposts (last one, I swear).  Janet Yellen has insisted that under her guidance, the Federal Reserve will be data driven, but so far this hasn’t played out.  The first bogey was unemployment.  When unemployment recovered quicker than expected, they kept lowering the target, delaying a possible rate hike.  These delays were understandable as there was certainly room for improvement in the economy.  Now, however, the US economy is looking quite robust.  Unemployment has vastly improved and GDP looks good.  Inflation is low, but some top-of-mind costs (school tuition,…

Saturday, September 19th is the Northeast Ohio Walk for PKD.  Please take a minute to read about a cause that is near to my heart. My son, William, has ARPKD (autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease).  This is a genetic disease that led to complications after he was born and ultimately shut down his kidneys.  William went on dialysis and was lucky to have a kidney transplant when he was 2 years old.  He needs to take about a dozen medications every day to manage the transplant and everything that goes along with that. The great news is that William is doing incredibly well now.  He is going to kindergarten and doing all the other things a boy his age does such as sliding down the stairs on his butt, riding the dog like a small horse, and sneaking downstairs early in the morning to eat ice cream for breakfast. If you’d…