February 15, 2022 Recently, a friend and I engaged in a fairly profound conversation. He wondered what he was going to leave behind after he died. He asked me about his contribution to society and how to assess the good that he did. I told him the question is one I’ve heard before. Frankly, it’s one I’ve periodically asked myself.
February 15, 2022 If you’re of a certain age, you may recall the classic TV show, The Odd Couple. The show focused on two friends who became roommates, played by Tony Randall (Felix Unger) and Jack Klugman (Oscar Madison). In one especially memorable episode, Felix used a blackboard in court to disassemble the word assume: “When one assumes, you make...
February 15, 2022 During bull markets, it may appear as if anything an investor buys will go higher. For individual investors, up is up, and they may even be more emboldened when hearing of others who have made a lot of money. It’s hard not to want in on the party. (How hard can it be? Even so-and-so is getting...
December 31, 2021 Since moving to Westfield more than 15 years ago, Pearl and I have celebrated New Year’s Eve the same way. We start with elegant hors d'oeuvres (think cocktail franks), attend a concert at the high school by the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and conclude with a dinner that would be appreciated by any transplanted New Yorker. And...
December 31, 2021 In between COVID surges, you may have noticed that it’s getting harder and harder to find salespeople in stores or staff in the supermarket. When was the last time you called an 800# and had the call answered by a human in a reasonable amount of time? In other words, while you may be itching to help...
December 31, 2021 Writing in the NY Times Business section 1 , Jeanna Smialek provided a brief yet thorough treatise as to what causes inflation and how it might affect us over the near term. Considering that articles about inflation have been widespread of late, it might be useful to understand how it might impact both your purchasing power and...
November 15, 2021 Within a four-hour time span, two seniors gave me identical advice, word for word: “Don’t grow old.” In turn, I used the same words to reply to both: “I don’t like the alternative.” Being told not to grow old is a line frequently used by seniors. In my experience, it’s often said by someone with health issues...
November 15, 2021 When market conditions change, investors often feel compelled to do something. To that end, we can agree on one point: it’s challenging to stand by and watch events transpire. The typical working assumption is: Something I own must be sold; something I don’t own must be bought, because, well, things are going to change. But what if...
November 15, 2021 Over the years, various terms have been applied to explain ways to invest ‘more responsibly.’ Terms such as SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance Measures) were early to the market. Now, almost any combination of the words Sustainability, Green, Ethical and/or Eco will attract investment dollars. If you’re an investor who has thought...
September 30, 2021 For a very unusual reason, it was especially difficult to write this edition of Stan’s World. It wasn’t because anything was wrong; it was because I was continually distracted by the commotion under my office window. Frankly, the police were no help at all in quelling the disturbance. They were making a movie! The producers and directors...