July 11, 2025

Brian Regan is Focused on the 2nd Half

Brian Regan is Focused on the 2nd Half

Focus on the 2nd Half – As we enter the second half of 2025 with the stock market at record high
levels, Senior Portfolio Manager Brian Regan joins Chris Boyd and Jeff Perry for a detailed
review of the first half of the year and an outlook for the remainder of 2025. With a focus on
valuation metrics, Brian offers general commentary on the stock market as well as specific
sectors, including utilities and semiconductors. Brian also provides thoughts on the importance
of “AI” relative to the growth in corporate earnings. Chris inquires with Brian whether
international stocks are worthy of consideration. #financialplanning #geo-political #stockmarket
#utilitystocks #semiconductors #corporateearnings #stocks #internationalstocks


Click the link below to register for our upcoming webinar, “Don’t leave a digital mess.”

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6040334700710880088

For more information or to reach TEAM AMR, click the following link:
https://www.wealthenhancement.com/s/advisor-teams/amr

 

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Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.

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Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,

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and senior vice president and financial advisor at

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Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest

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registered investment advisors.

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We call it Something More because we'd like

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to talk not only about those important dollar

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and cents issues, but also the quality of

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life issues that make the money matters matter.

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Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner

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in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and

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across the country.

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Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.

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Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.

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I'm here with Jeff Perry and Brian Regan.

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All of us are with the AMR team

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at Wealth Enhancement, and glad to have you

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joining us for a segment.

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So glad to have you back.

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You each were on vacation last week.

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Not together.

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Fair enough.

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But I missed you both.

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Would it be that bad, Jeff?

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I don't know, based upon- You don't

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have the time of your life.

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Maybe for the first two days.

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After that, it would probably be downhill.

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I think we both feel that way, as

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previously discussed.

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It's that time of year, a great time

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of year to take a vacation.

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So you guys picked the perfect week, I

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think.

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I billed this previously, Brian, that we were

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going to talk to you about, hey, where

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are we at at the half, and how

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are things going?

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And then I forgot you were on vacation.

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So I billed it again last week for

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this week.

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So here we are.

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Lots to think about.

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So much going on in the world in

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terms of foreign policy issues.

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We've had issues with Iran that came up

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a month ago, maybe.

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We've had the looming question of what's happening

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with tariffs that's evolving and developing.

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We had this big legislation, which we'll talk

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about in another episode shortly.

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So there's so much going on.

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I think investors look at things and say,

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well, it seems like things are going well.

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How should I be thinking about the second

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half of the year?

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And so I just wanted to have an

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opportunity for you to talk a little bit

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about some of this, and maybe offer some

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insight and guidance for our listeners as to

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how do we think about all that's going

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on in the world, and how does that

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play into some of the thinking people might

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want to give consideration to with their portfolio

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as we look into the latter part of

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the year?

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So if you fell asleep on January 1st

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and you woke up on June 30th, you'd

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probably be pretty thrilled with your investment returns,

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or at least happy, would be my guess.

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Maybe not thrilled when you compare it to

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2024 and 2023.

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The reality is, for better or for worse,

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we don't go into a coma for six

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months at a time.

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I'll say that's better.

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But year to date through July 9th, the

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S&P 500 was up 7.16%

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total returns, so that includes dividends.

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The aggregate bond index was up 3.64%.

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So objectively, that's pretty nice.

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You're getting something from your fixed income.

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You're tracking at over 7% on your

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fixed income, which is much higher than the

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stated yields that you're going to get on

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investment grade fixed income right now.

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And you're tracking for close to 14%

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on the S&P 500, which is around

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the 10-year average.

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We've had a very good decade for stocks.

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So if you just fell asleep and woke

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up, that'd be nice.

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Of course, we all lived through the end

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of the first quarter though, and a quote

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unquote liberation day where we had some wild

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tariff policy that came into effect.

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And I have this interesting chart from JP

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Morgan.

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If you bear with me a second, I

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can just take a comment.

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So on April 8th, the effective tax rate

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on imports was going to be 30%, which

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is basically the highest it had ever been

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going back to the year 1900.

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I'm happy to say that as of June

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30th, it's down to 15%.

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So we've dialed back the tariff dramatically and

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we've started kicking the can down the road

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on tariffs.

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The reciprocal tariffs, the deadline was July 4th.

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I think we all know that was a

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soft deadline.

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Now it's going to be August 1st.

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We'll see what happens.

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There's been a lot of rhetoric and a

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lot of threats about copper and pharmaceutical tariffs

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as of late, but the general trend has

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been a softening of the tariffs from the

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peak issue that we were seeing.

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So there was a lot of investment considerations

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based on that.

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So we had a dramatic sell-off when

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the effective tariff rate was at 30%.

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And as we've ratcheted down to 15%, we've

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seen a recovery in the market.

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And last quarter, I said, if we have

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a continued tariff war with these outrageous rates,

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we're probably going to have a global recession.

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And the S&P 500 could be looking

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at 4,000.

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At the time, the S&P 500 was

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around 5,000.

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And as we've come down, we're back at

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all-time highs.

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It begs the question, what would have happened

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if we didn't have this friction in the

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economy and these additional tariffs?

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Would we be having even a better year?

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The other consequence of this is the dollar

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has fallen dramatically to the tune of around

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10%.

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This has been a direct tailwind for international

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stocks.

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If you look at international stocks on a

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dollar basis, you see that it's done about

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18%, 19% year-to-date, much better

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than the S&P 500.

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If you were to strip out the effects

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of the dollar, it's only about 8%, 9%.

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A little bit better than the S&P

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500, but not dramatically different.

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So the tariffs have had a negative effect

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on the dollar, where less exporting of dollar

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or less imports are devaluing the dollar.

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In addition to that, the confidence in the

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United States has likely gone down as well

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because of this.

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So this has been a tailwind to international

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stocks.

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This is interesting because it's really been an

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underperformer.

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International stocks have been underperforming against the S

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&P 500 for a very long time, as

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we've talked about.

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So if you maintained some diversification, some allocation

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to international stocks, you did very, very well

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relative to the S&P 500.

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So that's the good news, right?

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We've had a good year.

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International stocks have done well.

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If you've been diversified, you've done well.

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But the tough thing is there is some

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friction in the economy, and we can all

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hope that the progress we're seeing on the

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tariff front continues.

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Now, if the progress on the tariff front

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does continue, I would expect some strengthening in

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the dollar since the tariffs were the issue

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for the dollar in the first place.

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And then you might see some reversal in

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leadership in the second half.

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So when we think about the second half,

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and I've said this to my colleagues at

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Wealth Enhancement and our macro meeting, I would

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be very careful to chase international stocks because

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if we do have a continued reversal of

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this tariff policy, we could see some leadership

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from domestic stocks going forward.

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Now, if we're going to drill into, if

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we're going to double click or we're going

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to dig into whatever you want to use

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for your segue into domestic stocks, where do

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you want to be?

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We have been focused on a few areas.

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We've been focused on utilities and semiconductors.

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And why?

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Because there's, and mega cap growth themes.

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Why?

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Because there's been an enormous investment in the

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AI trend.

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That means for power generation, queue up utilities.

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That also means for semiconductors because you need

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computers to generate all this new content.

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You need GPUs, you need CPUs, you need

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inference chips, you need everybody's working on custom

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chips for inferencing, for example.

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So we keep seeing that spend grow.

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And even at faster rates from the quote

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unquote hyperscalers than we expected just six months

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ago, it keeps growing at a great, great

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clip.

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So, you know, I think that is going

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to lead to a competitive advantage for the

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mega cap growth names.

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It's going to be a competitive advantage for

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the semiconductor equipment and semiconductor design companies, most

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notably Nvidia and the design capabilities.

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And I think you've seen that.

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Now, what do you, what do I think

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is going to suffer or where you need

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to be less focused on?

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I think discretionary and cyclicals you need to

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be careful with.

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So why do I say that?

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Well, Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta was

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on CNBC this morning after discussing his first

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quarter results.

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And what we're seeing is the front of

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the cabin is up 5% in revenue

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and the back of the cabin is down

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5% in revenue.

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So we do have this dichotomy of who's

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doing well in America and who's not doing

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well.

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And that's one interesting data point that's top

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of mind, but you could find this data

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basically anywhere, right?

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Credit card spend is higher, delinquencies on autos

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are higher, things of that nature.

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You're seeing the lower part of the consumer

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not doing as well as the upper end.

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So, you know, for me, that means that

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you kind of want to be careful around

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discretionary goods.

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We've generally seen a decline in discretionary spend.

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So, you know, let's just be careful.

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Let's not over-allocate there.

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When it comes to staples, well, to me,

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they're pretty expensive and you're not getting the

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growth.

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So they might be consistent, but they're not

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necessarily growing.

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You know, where am I, am I going

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to get any bang for my buck there?

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People have really liked industrials and that's basically

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because of the onshoring theme.

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That can be great, right?

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But there's different kinds of industrials, right?

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We can have industrials that tend to be

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cyclical and we can have industrials that are

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more consistent.

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And, you know, I'd be careful in ETF

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00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,400
and mutual fund portfolio, for example, allocating to

264
00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,440
the whole sector, because I think as a

265
00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,120
sector as a whole, it can act more

266
00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:08,760
cyclically.

267
00:11:09,220 --> 00:11:11,040
But I think you could definitely find individual

268
00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:15,240
stocks that could be consistent and growing and

269
00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:16,560
take advantage of that trend.

270
00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:18,760
I just think you need to be more

271
00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:19,360
discerning.

272
00:11:19,880 --> 00:11:22,500
When it comes to interest rates, we just

273
00:11:22,500 --> 00:11:26,200
had the quote unquote big, beautiful bill passed.

274
00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,240
This is extending the previous Trump tax cuts

275
00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:34,660
and making them permanent, you know, permanent until

276
00:11:35,290 --> 00:11:38,020
we have a different government likely, but, you

277
00:11:38,020 --> 00:11:39,840
know, permanent for the foreseeable future.

278
00:11:40,780 --> 00:11:43,920
This is deficit spending, you know, it's adding

279
00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:44,500
to the debt.

280
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:47,760
Typically that is stimulative and inflationary.

281
00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,800
So when you have stimulative and inflationary, likely

282
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:53,080
you're going to have higher rates for longer.

283
00:11:53,540 --> 00:11:56,420
That might be frustrating to people, including the

284
00:11:56,420 --> 00:11:57,260
president of the United States.

285
00:11:57,580 --> 00:12:00,060
But typically that is what we're going to

286
00:12:00,060 --> 00:12:00,340
see.

287
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,480
One caveat to that is I think it's

288
00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:07,880
the debatable, it's not debatable, you know, that

289
00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:09,960
this is going to add four or five

290
00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,120
trillion dollars in debt over 10 years, or,

291
00:12:13,140 --> 00:12:14,600
you know, maybe it is in some circles,

292
00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,240
but I think generally there's some agreement on

293
00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:16,500
that.

294
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,080
But what I think is interesting is how

295
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,400
stimulative and how inflationary the bill is going

296
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,740
to be going forward.

297
00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:26,360
And the reason I say that is it's

298
00:12:26,360 --> 00:12:28,260
really building off of the tax rates that

299
00:12:28,260 --> 00:12:29,820
already existed in 2024, right?

300
00:12:29,820 --> 00:12:32,460
It just kind of extended them with certain

301
00:12:32,460 --> 00:12:33,140
caveats, right?

302
00:12:33,180 --> 00:12:34,540
And we can discuss that if you want.

303
00:12:35,820 --> 00:12:37,940
But if you're looking at the bulk of

304
00:12:37,940 --> 00:12:39,320
it and you're just comparing what's going to

305
00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,900
change between 2024, 2025 and 2026 based on

306
00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:44,820
the changes in the big beautiful bill, you're

307
00:12:44,820 --> 00:12:46,480
probably not going to see that big of

308
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:46,900
a change.

309
00:12:47,020 --> 00:12:49,060
I mean, personally, my tax return might not

310
00:12:49,060 --> 00:12:52,600
change that much and Jeff and Chris, I

311
00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:55,220
imagine your tax returns might not change that

312
00:12:55,220 --> 00:12:55,500
much.

313
00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,700
But for certain folks, you know, it will.

314
00:12:59,260 --> 00:13:01,340
But in aggregate, you know, I think we're

315
00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:04,420
going to see some stimulus and some inflationary

316
00:13:04,420 --> 00:13:10,300
effects, but nothing hugely concerning, you know, that

317
00:13:10,300 --> 00:13:12,760
that I think would be a huge driver

318
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:14,220
of of inflation.

319
00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:17,260
So, you know, all things equal, if we

320
00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:20,380
are a little tight right now on interest

321
00:13:20,380 --> 00:13:24,040
rates, maybe the big beautiful bill makes us

322
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,380
more in equilibrium than where we previously were,

323
00:13:27,380 --> 00:13:29,940
and it makes it easier for the Fed

324
00:13:29,940 --> 00:13:33,560
to sit tight at the position they're in

325
00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:35,560
right now, which I think is going to

326
00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:36,120
be the case.

327
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:37,940
At the very least, you know, there's a

328
00:13:37,940 --> 00:13:39,840
lot going on right now between tariffs and

329
00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,140
the new tax bill where they're likely going

330
00:13:42,140 --> 00:13:43,440
to want to continue to see some more

331
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:43,700
data.

332
00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,280
Finally, we had another initial claims and another

333
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:54,800
continuing claims data point this week, and they

334
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:55,640
were very benign.

335
00:13:56,220 --> 00:13:57,980
So, you know, that's a good thing.

336
00:13:58,160 --> 00:13:59,200
Nobody wants a recession.

337
00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,800
But what we are seeing is slowly the

338
00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,900
continuing claims tick up, while initial claims basically

339
00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:09,260
kind of stay around the same area.

340
00:14:09,460 --> 00:14:11,920
So, you know, this is basically means that

341
00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,260
people aren't quitting, people aren't getting laid off.

342
00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,020
But it does seem like the people who

343
00:14:18,020 --> 00:14:19,820
do lose their jobs are having a lot

344
00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:20,880
of trouble finding a new one.

345
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:26,200
A great analogy from Neil Dutta from Ren

346
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,060
Mac Research, he's the macroeconomist there, he says

347
00:14:30,060 --> 00:14:32,320
it's like a bathtub that's dripping water.

348
00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,180
It's not a heavy flow, but it's dripping

349
00:14:35,180 --> 00:14:36,720
and the bathtub's filling up.

350
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,520
So I think we do want to keep

351
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,040
an eye on, you know, how heavy that

352
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,100
flow is into the bathtub, which is initial

353
00:14:43,100 --> 00:14:45,000
claims and the water level in the bathtub,

354
00:14:45,140 --> 00:14:46,280
which is continuing claims.

355
00:14:46,500 --> 00:14:48,540
But so far, so good.

356
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:53,100
So if you put all this together, you

357
00:14:53,100 --> 00:14:57,280
know, interest rate related sectors, I think, are

358
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,440
going to struggle, I think, because I think

359
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,040
we're going to be higher for longer, at

360
00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:01,700
least on the short end.

361
00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,580
I think discretionary names might struggle a little

362
00:15:05,580 --> 00:15:08,760
bit, but we don't have a crazy unemployment

363
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:09,360
problem.

364
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,260
So we might just get, you know, a

365
00:15:11,260 --> 00:15:14,000
muddling along in those types of areas.

366
00:15:14,260 --> 00:15:16,240
And I think we're going to have continued

367
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:22,180
strength in the B2B onshoring and AI type

368
00:15:22,180 --> 00:15:24,720
themes in the second half of the year.

369
00:15:25,340 --> 00:15:27,480
So I gave you guys a lot of

370
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:28,180
information there.

371
00:15:29,060 --> 00:15:30,840
Love to hear your thoughts or questions.

372
00:15:31,100 --> 00:15:33,020
And, you know, let's have an interesting conversation

373
00:15:33,020 --> 00:15:33,400
about this.

374
00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:35,900
So Brian, one area that you didn't talk

375
00:15:35,900 --> 00:15:38,900
about, it's implicit in all your comments, though,

376
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,200
is earnings, corporate earnings.

377
00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,220
There was, you know, a lot of commentary

378
00:15:44,220 --> 00:15:48,180
about tariffs slowing down, movement of corporations, investments

379
00:15:48,180 --> 00:15:52,580
in different things, and consumers maybe taking a

380
00:15:52,580 --> 00:15:53,160
step back.

381
00:15:53,660 --> 00:15:55,860
What have you seen with consumer spending and

382
00:15:55,860 --> 00:15:58,300
how it has related to corporate earnings?

383
00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,680
Consumer spending, it's been very hard to tell,

384
00:16:02,740 --> 00:16:02,900
right?

385
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,160
So Q1, earnings were very good.

386
00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,280
The some companies withdrew guidance, some gave guidance

387
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,900
with tariffs, some gave without tariffs, but generally

388
00:16:12,900 --> 00:16:14,940
speaking, it was viewed as very good.

389
00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:17,720
The problem with that is it's very hard

390
00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,580
to tell how much was pulled forward.

391
00:16:19,940 --> 00:16:23,040
So, for example, if you're a company and

392
00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,640
you wanted to get inventory in before the

393
00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,160
tariffs hit, you might have overbought, which might

394
00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:30,140
have been stimulative to your vendors.

395
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,460
If you're a consumer, you might want to

396
00:16:32,460 --> 00:16:37,360
get ahead of price increases or shortages, so

397
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,300
you might have gone out and bought where

398
00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:42,860
you might not have otherwise, and that might

399
00:16:42,860 --> 00:16:45,460
have been stimulative for earnings there.

400
00:16:45,780 --> 00:16:47,600
So I think, you know, in the second

401
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:48,960
and third quarters, people are going to be

402
00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,060
looking for drop-offs or possible drop-offs.

403
00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:53,720
If there's not drop-offs, then I think

404
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,960
we're going to be in very good shape.

405
00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,060
If there is drop-offs, I think we

406
00:16:59,060 --> 00:17:02,260
could definitely see some additional volatility.

407
00:17:03,020 --> 00:17:05,640
On a personal note, if anecdotes mean too

408
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,760
much to you, I certainly spent forward.

409
00:17:09,180 --> 00:17:11,040
I bought a car, a refrigerator, a washing

410
00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:11,500
machine.

411
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:14,260
I went on a spending spree because I

412
00:17:14,260 --> 00:17:18,079
didn't want to be caught with a broken

413
00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:20,359
down car that I can't fix because I

414
00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:22,319
can't get the parts or because they're too

415
00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:22,720
expensive.

416
00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:25,880
So I remedied a situation with an old

417
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:26,640
car, for example.

418
00:17:26,780 --> 00:17:27,720
I had an old refrigerator.

419
00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:29,160
I have two young kids.

420
00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,600
I need to have a working refrigerator, so

421
00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,600
I just got ahead of replacing my 20

422
00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:35,420
-year-old refrigerator.

423
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,620
So that type of activity is what I

424
00:17:37,620 --> 00:17:38,420
mean by pull forward.

425
00:17:39,420 --> 00:17:41,200
So it'll be interesting to see what happens

426
00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:41,840
going forward.

427
00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,520
Now, on the biggest stocks in the market,

428
00:17:44,740 --> 00:17:45,880
right, if we're talking about the S&P

429
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:47,480
500, the biggest stocks in the market, they

430
00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:49,100
don't necessarily have to worry about pull forward

431
00:17:49,100 --> 00:17:49,580
too much.

432
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:55,920
Microsoft, Amazon, Amazon a little bit, but a

433
00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,100
lot of their revenue comes from Amazon Web

434
00:17:58,100 --> 00:18:00,960
Services just as much as retailing.

435
00:18:02,340 --> 00:18:07,200
They're not part of this inventory good cycle,

436
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:07,460
right?

437
00:18:07,780 --> 00:18:09,920
A lot of it is subscription-based.

438
00:18:10,100 --> 00:18:12,660
A lot of it is considered, Windows, for

439
00:18:12,660 --> 00:18:14,720
example, I think would be considered a staple,

440
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:15,400
right?

441
00:18:15,500 --> 00:18:17,940
It's a business-to-business type product, but

442
00:18:17,940 --> 00:18:18,500
it's a staple.

443
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:19,180
We need it.

444
00:18:19,820 --> 00:18:22,340
And they're continuing to grow at a very,

445
00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:26,300
very rapid pace in a secular manner.

446
00:18:26,940 --> 00:18:28,620
So when we're talking about the overall market

447
00:18:28,620 --> 00:18:30,480
and we talk about concentration in the market,

448
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:32,900
the concentration in the market might actually be

449
00:18:32,900 --> 00:18:35,700
helping us with this situation right now because

450
00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:38,000
those companies are less exposed to the potential

451
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:38,900
effects of tariffs.

452
00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,860
Brian, you're probably tired of me asking about

453
00:18:45,860 --> 00:18:50,180
this because it's something I bring up routinely.

454
00:18:50,660 --> 00:18:51,620
I can ask him if you want.

455
00:18:51,700 --> 00:18:52,440
I know your question.

456
00:18:53,180 --> 00:18:54,520
I could just answer it.

457
00:18:56,620 --> 00:18:59,000
Maybe for the listeners, you should ask, Chris.

458
00:18:59,360 --> 00:18:59,680
Okay.

459
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,580
Just to put it out there, why not

460
00:19:03,580 --> 00:19:06,780
be worried about valuation, the market valuation?

461
00:19:07,060 --> 00:19:10,260
The forward PE is near 22 times at

462
00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:10,800
the half.

463
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,800
That's relatively high in historical terms.

464
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,700
Why shouldn't we be concerned about that?

465
00:19:19,620 --> 00:19:21,540
I think you should be concerned about valuation.

466
00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:22,780
I think you should always be concerned about

467
00:19:22,780 --> 00:19:23,240
valuation.

468
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,620
I want to buy good companies at good

469
00:19:25,620 --> 00:19:26,060
prices.

470
00:19:26,460 --> 00:19:28,000
I just think the PE ratio is a

471
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,820
terrible way to measure valuation.

472
00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:33,660
The PE ratio on a trailing basis, if

473
00:19:33,660 --> 00:19:35,280
you look at a trailing PE, only takes

474
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,520
into account companies' earnings versus the price today

475
00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:40,600
over the last 12 months.

476
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,060
The forward PE ratio is arguably even worse.

477
00:19:44,180 --> 00:19:46,480
It only takes into account expected earnings in

478
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:47,360
the next 12 months.

479
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,060
There is a lot wrong with this.

480
00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:54,920
We don't think about stocks within a one

481
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,080
year time period.

482
00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,900
We talk about how stocks are long-term

483
00:19:58,900 --> 00:19:59,340
assets.

484
00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:02,500
The fact that that doesn't take into growth

485
00:20:02,500 --> 00:20:04,340
at all is a problem for me.

486
00:20:05,900 --> 00:20:08,860
The Mag 7 names are expected to grow

487
00:20:08,860 --> 00:20:11,320
at 30%, and the total S&P 500

488
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,800
is expected to grow at 9%.

489
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:17,300
We have had historic growth for years now,

490
00:20:17,940 --> 00:20:19,640
and we're in a productivity boom.

491
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:27,040
If you add on growth to the historical

492
00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,300
market just there, you should expect that you

493
00:20:29,300 --> 00:20:31,780
would pay a higher PE ratio for better

494
00:20:31,780 --> 00:20:32,920
expected growth in the future.

495
00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:35,540
Now it's true that if that better expected

496
00:20:35,540 --> 00:20:37,180
growth in the future does not pan out,

497
00:20:37,180 --> 00:20:42,180
then the valuation is definitely a big concern

498
00:20:42,180 --> 00:20:45,580
because the PE ratio is too high.

499
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,080
Right now, that's the reason why it's pricing

500
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:48,460
that in.

501
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,120
Another reason why I think it's pricing in

502
00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:52,900
a high PE ratio is interest rates.

503
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,540
We have interest rates at four and a

504
00:20:54,540 --> 00:20:56,800
quarter on the 10-year, which is historically

505
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:57,380
very low.

506
00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:58,900
If we're going to look at historic PE

507
00:20:58,900 --> 00:21:01,680
ratios, we have to think about PE ratios

508
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:02,760
in historic terms.

509
00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:06,520
The 10-year interest rate in the late

510
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,420
90s was above 6%.

511
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,040
So when we're comparing today's PE ratio to

512
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,180
the PE ratio of the late 90s and

513
00:21:14,180 --> 00:21:15,580
you're saying, hey, look, we're in a similar

514
00:21:15,580 --> 00:21:17,660
ballpark of the dot-com bust, I would

515
00:21:17,660 --> 00:21:18,880
argue we're nowhere close.

516
00:21:22,100 --> 00:21:24,240
Those interest rates were 50% higher than

517
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:24,740
they are today.

518
00:21:26,300 --> 00:21:29,960
I get comfort there as well.

519
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,680
Finally, the economy is much different.

520
00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:37,620
Historically, if let's say we were around a

521
00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:41,540
14, 15, 16 PE ratio going back to

522
00:21:41,540 --> 00:21:46,620
the 50s, capital expenditures were enormous back then

523
00:21:46,620 --> 00:21:48,380
because we were a bits and bytes economy.

524
00:21:50,220 --> 00:21:52,680
The stock market was also, I would argue,

525
00:21:52,780 --> 00:21:53,300
less understood.

526
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,400
People were very concentrated on dividend yields, for

527
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,680
example, rather than things that we have today

528
00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:58,460
like buybacks.

529
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:00,900
They weren't necessarily concerned about growth.

530
00:22:02,020 --> 00:22:05,180
Free cash flow yields were arguably lower or

531
00:22:05,180 --> 00:22:07,660
in future free cash flow yields were definitely

532
00:22:07,660 --> 00:22:08,140
lower.

533
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:10,380
So this is what I call a difference

534
00:22:10,380 --> 00:22:12,560
between the bricks and mortar economy versus the

535
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:13,400
bytes and bits economy.

536
00:22:14,540 --> 00:22:16,780
We have transitioned to a bytes and bits

537
00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:19,580
economy where we have everything is as a

538
00:22:19,580 --> 00:22:19,900
service.

539
00:22:20,060 --> 00:22:21,840
And as a service just means that it's

540
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:22,480
a subscription.

541
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,620
It's a lower cost that you can more

542
00:22:25,620 --> 00:22:26,820
predictably pay for.

543
00:22:26,980 --> 00:22:30,100
So your cash flows are more consistent, they're

544
00:22:30,100 --> 00:22:32,700
more predictable, and your margins are much higher

545
00:22:32,700 --> 00:22:36,900
because you can deliver software that's already been

546
00:22:36,900 --> 00:22:40,720
written without the use of another human being,

547
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,440
without the use of another truck, without the

548
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:44,580
reuse of a lot of other things.

549
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,260
I've learned about this in college, CDs don't

550
00:22:50,260 --> 00:22:52,480
exist anymore, but it costs almost nothing to

551
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:53,540
stamp out another CD.

552
00:22:54,540 --> 00:22:57,760
But it costs a lot more to make

553
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:03,320
another movie, for example, or make another widget.

554
00:23:04,420 --> 00:23:06,340
So what we've seen is margins just continue

555
00:23:06,340 --> 00:23:07,000
to increase.

556
00:23:07,140 --> 00:23:08,900
And the bigger the company, the more the

557
00:23:08,900 --> 00:23:09,920
margins are increasing.

558
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,060
So we have companies that are more profitable,

559
00:23:12,260 --> 00:23:13,820
we have companies that are more consistent, and

560
00:23:13,820 --> 00:23:15,080
we have companies that are growing at a

561
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:15,900
much faster rate.

562
00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:17,800
And we have lower interest rates.

563
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,700
You combine all those things together, and I

564
00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:22,180
think it's rational that we have a higher

565
00:23:22,180 --> 00:23:22,860
PE ratio.

566
00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:25,360
And if we did have a significant dip,

567
00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:28,000
it's likely a buying opportunity.

568
00:23:29,060 --> 00:23:31,460
So that's where I come out on that.

569
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,040
It's not that I don't worry about valuation,

570
00:23:34,140 --> 00:23:34,900
I absolutely do.

571
00:23:35,900 --> 00:23:39,540
PE is not a very good indicator of

572
00:23:39,540 --> 00:23:39,660
it.

573
00:23:39,660 --> 00:23:42,520
Brian, how much does AI play into those

574
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:47,500
previous comments about future expansions, future growth, accelerated

575
00:23:47,500 --> 00:23:48,720
growth, however you want to frame it?

576
00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:49,700
Significantly.

577
00:23:49,900 --> 00:23:51,440
I mean, the biggest names in the market

578
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:52,880
are the biggest names in the market because

579
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:53,820
they're AI names.

580
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,840
And why are they growing at 30%

581
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:57,200
a year?

582
00:23:57,540 --> 00:23:59,940
It's because they're the AI players.

583
00:24:00,260 --> 00:24:01,640
I mean, that's going to be the productivity

584
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:02,760
boom of the future.

585
00:24:03,620 --> 00:24:05,160
There's consensus around that.

586
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:06,540
I believe it to be true.

587
00:24:06,900 --> 00:24:08,480
I think we all use it and we're

588
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:09,720
all getting better at it regularly.

589
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,580
I don't think there's really any doubt in

590
00:24:12,580 --> 00:24:13,340
my mind.

591
00:24:13,580 --> 00:24:15,240
I do think there's overhype.

592
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,480
I've talked about Tesla, for example, many times.

593
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:19,980
I don't understand why it has a trillion

594
00:24:19,980 --> 00:24:20,760
dollar valuation.

595
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,060
The reason why it has a trillion dollar

596
00:24:24,060 --> 00:24:26,040
valuation is because people think they're going to

597
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,300
be able to build humanoid robots and have

598
00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:30,720
driverless taxis.

599
00:24:31,260 --> 00:24:34,120
And basically, they just believe that Elon Musk

600
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:35,040
is going to be able to do it

601
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,640
better and faster than anybody else.

602
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,140
I think there's reason to believe that's wrong.

603
00:24:42,460 --> 00:24:43,780
And that's one of the biggest things in

604
00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:44,000
the market.

605
00:24:44,220 --> 00:24:45,700
So there's certainly risks, right?

606
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,640
We jump from being able to write our

607
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,320
emails better to having humanoid robots like the

608
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:54,800
Jetsons.

609
00:24:56,380 --> 00:24:57,200
That idea- Rosie.

610
00:24:57,780 --> 00:24:58,220
Yeah.

611
00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:01,020
Rosie jumped in our head real quick inside

612
00:25:01,020 --> 00:25:03,280
of a year, I feel like, where I

613
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,320
don't think people were giving Rosie too much

614
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:06,240
credit.

615
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,300
So I think there's going to be a

616
00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:09,800
hype cycle.

617
00:25:11,780 --> 00:25:15,800
But at the same time, these companies, they're

618
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:16,940
not relatively inexpensive.

619
00:25:18,220 --> 00:25:19,760
They're not relatively expensive, right?

620
00:25:19,820 --> 00:25:21,220
So if you look at the dot-com

621
00:25:21,220 --> 00:25:23,500
as a comparison, we're companies that had zero

622
00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:23,860
revenue.

623
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,200
These are the biggest companies in the world

624
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,740
by revenue, by profit, by margins, by every

625
00:25:28,740 --> 00:25:33,320
statistical financial measurement you can think of.

626
00:25:33,540 --> 00:25:36,040
Given what you've said about the US economy

627
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,800
and its valuations, and this year we've seen

628
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:45,860
outperformance from international companies, some of that you

629
00:25:45,860 --> 00:25:48,040
talked about with reference to the dollar, but

630
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,740
what's that tell us?

631
00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:52,680
What's your take then?

632
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,880
How does that play into the consideration about

633
00:25:55,880 --> 00:26:01,040
foreign exposure and whether it should be cheaper

634
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,700
valuations, but should it be an increasing part

635
00:26:04,700 --> 00:26:07,360
of the portfolio for people?

636
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,820
Of course, you don't know what everyone's individual

637
00:26:09,820 --> 00:26:15,020
exposure is, but thematically speaking, what's your take

638
00:26:15,020 --> 00:26:18,320
as it relates to different kinds of economic

639
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:24,460
drivers in terms of other economies?

640
00:26:24,460 --> 00:26:26,640
How does that play into the thoughts around

641
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:27,040
foreign?

642
00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:33,080
So every investor has a home country bias.

643
00:26:33,820 --> 00:26:35,280
It's pretty interesting, right?

644
00:26:35,460 --> 00:26:37,160
So if you are an American, you're likely

645
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:38,500
going to hold more American stocks.

646
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,760
If you are German, you're going to have

647
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:42,360
more German or whatever, yeah.

648
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,440
But reality is when you look at the

649
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,080
global stock market, the United States is more

650
00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:53,000
than 60% of the market and Nvidia

651
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,940
is like the size of the UK alone.

652
00:26:55,340 --> 00:26:58,380
So the investable universe in the United States

653
00:26:58,380 --> 00:27:00,640
is bigger than it is internationally.

654
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,480
So we just start there.

655
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,580
You're probably going to have more US stock

656
00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:08,660
under most circumstances with any advisor.

657
00:27:09,020 --> 00:27:15,020
We've made the active decision that we always

658
00:27:15,020 --> 00:27:17,000
would like to have some international exposure in

659
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:17,540
our portfolio.

660
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,060
And I think there's good reason for that.

661
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:23,980
I think it's helped diversify our clients this

662
00:27:23,980 --> 00:27:24,200
year.

663
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,040
And I think it will in future years

664
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:27,740
as well.

665
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,680
So why have we done that?

666
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,420
There's different types of companies in different parts

667
00:27:33,420 --> 00:27:34,240
of the world, right?

668
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,540
So France, for example, is very good at

669
00:27:38,540 --> 00:27:41,320
luxury, much better than the United States is.

670
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,780
LVMH has been around for hundreds of years.

671
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,920
Hermes has been around for hundreds of years.

672
00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:52,860
They're not as good at technology.

673
00:27:53,380 --> 00:27:55,860
They have never generated a meta.

674
00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:00,640
They have never generated an Nvidia where the

675
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,440
United States tends to do this fairly regularly,

676
00:28:03,540 --> 00:28:04,220
it seems like.

677
00:28:04,460 --> 00:28:06,260
Now that doesn't mean that there's not good

678
00:28:06,260 --> 00:28:08,580
companies in Europe that specialize in technology.

679
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:09,060
There is.

680
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,700
There's ASML, there's SAP.

681
00:28:12,820 --> 00:28:15,680
They historically have had some good car manufacturers.

682
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:18,600
So Volvo is one of the biggest car

683
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,160
manufacturers in the world by revenue.

684
00:28:21,540 --> 00:28:25,280
Ferrari has been a very good stock historically.

685
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,620
So there are good stocks internationally.

686
00:28:29,260 --> 00:28:33,260
As an index, it hasn't done as well

687
00:28:33,260 --> 00:28:38,740
for what I think is cultural, structural, and

688
00:28:38,740 --> 00:28:39,720
structural reasons.

689
00:28:40,180 --> 00:28:44,960
The United States has one benefit where, it

690
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:46,280
might not seem this way, but the 50

691
00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:49,120
states are much more united than the countries

692
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:50,300
in the European Union.

693
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:57,860
The European Union struggles to keep everybody in

694
00:28:57,860 --> 00:29:00,240
line with their rules, for example, which is

695
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:01,420
part of the reason why we had a

696
00:29:01,420 --> 00:29:03,600
Greek tech crisis 12 years ago, for example.

697
00:29:05,220 --> 00:29:07,380
China is a huge economy.

698
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:11,100
It's growing at a rapid rate, but there's

699
00:29:11,100 --> 00:29:13,000
good reason to be concerned about capital controls.

700
00:29:15,340 --> 00:29:18,820
Technically, in a lot of ways, it's illegal

701
00:29:18,820 --> 00:29:21,000
for foreigners to hold domestic stocks.

702
00:29:22,820 --> 00:29:26,180
There could be an adversary in some ways

703
00:29:26,180 --> 00:29:29,480
of thinking, which could bifurcate their economy and

704
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,140
what are the impacts of that.

705
00:29:32,020 --> 00:29:34,080
Generally, I think we've made a decision that

706
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,660
we'd like to avoid that area as much

707
00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:37,260
as possible.

708
00:29:38,100 --> 00:29:40,720
But that can be painful if China spikes

709
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,940
as it has in the last six months.

710
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,180
But over time, I don't think we've given

711
00:29:46,180 --> 00:29:48,940
anything back by not being allocated in China

712
00:29:48,940 --> 00:29:50,040
in any significant way.

713
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:52,800
Chris, I'm not sure the answer- This

714
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:55,520
relates to what you're describing there relates particularly

715
00:29:55,520 --> 00:30:00,020
to the AMR team strategies as differentiated from

716
00:30:00,020 --> 00:30:03,940
some of the other wealth enhancement strategies, just

717
00:30:03,940 --> 00:30:07,200
to be clear, our own discretionary accounts for

718
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:08,000
our clientele.

719
00:30:08,220 --> 00:30:11,240
In any case, yeah, I think that answers

720
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,060
my question, that notion that as much as

721
00:30:15,060 --> 00:30:18,860
there can be opportunities in economies around the

722
00:30:18,860 --> 00:30:24,940
world, you still lean toward a domestic bias

723
00:30:24,940 --> 00:30:28,400
because of the quality of the companies and

724
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:30,680
the kind of profitability that they are generating,

725
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,860
which doesn't mean we don't want some international

726
00:30:33,860 --> 00:30:39,740
exposure, but it still justifies perhaps our view

727
00:30:39,740 --> 00:30:42,320
of why we're benefited by having an overweight

728
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:46,720
U.S. relative to perhaps a benchmark or

729
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,880
some comparative perspective.

730
00:30:51,020 --> 00:30:52,840
I think it's a great way to sum

731
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:53,260
it up, Chris.

732
00:30:53,460 --> 00:30:53,800
Thank you.

733
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:55,100
All right.

734
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:56,740
You summed up nicely.

735
00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:58,680
Well, you're the content.

736
00:31:00,820 --> 00:31:01,920
Well, terrific.

737
00:31:02,060 --> 00:31:02,560
That's great.

738
00:31:02,700 --> 00:31:04,740
So gives us a view of sort of

739
00:31:04,740 --> 00:31:06,660
where we're at, lots of possibilities.

740
00:31:06,940 --> 00:31:10,520
Seems I'd say fair to characterize your overall

741
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:15,000
view as generally optimistic or maybe cautiously optimistic

742
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,060
as we go into the second half of

743
00:31:17,060 --> 00:31:17,440
the year.

744
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,940
Yeah, I'd say I'm neutral.

745
00:31:22,140 --> 00:31:23,260
I'm not pessimistic.

746
00:31:23,380 --> 00:31:25,400
I'm not optimistic and neutral is good, right?

747
00:31:25,420 --> 00:31:26,860
When I say neutral, I mean, I think

748
00:31:26,860 --> 00:31:28,460
we're going to have average returns in the

749
00:31:28,460 --> 00:31:29,220
next 12 months.

750
00:31:30,060 --> 00:31:31,100
And why do I say that?

751
00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:33,060
Well, if you want to strap some numbers

752
00:31:33,060 --> 00:31:36,640
to it, that chart you showed of the

753
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:38,720
PE ratio, if you were invert that and

754
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:40,140
get the earnings yield, you're going to get

755
00:31:40,140 --> 00:31:40,960
something around 5%.

756
00:31:42,260 --> 00:31:44,280
I think we're going to have 2.5

757
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:45,020
% inflation.

758
00:31:45,460 --> 00:31:47,560
We're probably going to have some growth of

759
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:48,480
2%.

760
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,780
We're going to have margins expand by 1%.

761
00:31:50,780 --> 00:31:53,020
And just there, you get the 10%.

762
00:31:53,020 --> 00:31:55,720
And if we have growth in the S

763
00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,020
&P 500 beyond what I just described that

764
00:31:58,020 --> 00:31:59,260
we're probably going to see in the overall

765
00:31:59,260 --> 00:32:02,540
economy, then you could get beyond that 10%.

766
00:32:02,540 --> 00:32:05,320
You maybe track for the 14% that

767
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:06,800
we're tracking for now.

768
00:32:08,260 --> 00:32:10,140
Certainly, we could get some curveballs.

769
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:11,860
I mean, April 2nd was certainly a curveball.

770
00:32:11,860 --> 00:32:16,380
And that's why you need to be diversified

771
00:32:16,380 --> 00:32:19,580
into a portfolio that is reflective of the

772
00:32:19,580 --> 00:32:21,860
amount of volatility that you personally are willing

773
00:32:21,860 --> 00:32:23,320
to take and withstand.

774
00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:26,240
And that's personal to most people.

775
00:32:27,380 --> 00:32:30,240
One thing that we have a particular client

776
00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:33,720
that likes to ask a lot is, what

777
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,560
do you think is going to happen in

778
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:37,300
the next six months?

779
00:32:37,820 --> 00:32:40,460
And I'm always reluctant to answer the question

780
00:32:40,460 --> 00:32:42,940
because I just don't know.

781
00:32:43,260 --> 00:32:47,180
It's like asking me about Einstein's theory of

782
00:32:47,180 --> 00:32:47,580
relativity.

783
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:49,200
I'm no expert on what's going to happen

784
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:50,060
in the next six months.

785
00:32:50,260 --> 00:32:52,880
But I can survey the landscape and say,

786
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,260
is this way off sides, on sides?

787
00:32:55,660 --> 00:32:57,380
Are we going to score a goal?

788
00:32:57,460 --> 00:32:59,740
Are we going to stay neutral and play

789
00:32:59,740 --> 00:33:00,320
the puck well?

790
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,040
That's the kind of general thinking.

791
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:04,680
And if you try to pinpoint it and

792
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,680
you try to push your portfolio really far

793
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,540
one way or another based on putting your

794
00:33:10,540 --> 00:33:12,120
finger in the air and feeling where the

795
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,800
wind is blowing, I think you're going to

796
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:14,540
get yourself in trouble.

797
00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:20,200
So reminders for listeners to one, be sure

798
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:23,460
you have some liquidity reserves or a mechanism

799
00:33:23,460 --> 00:33:27,220
for the unexpected where you can get access

800
00:33:27,220 --> 00:33:28,440
to capital quickly.

801
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:31,040
Generally, we like to see a reserve account

802
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,480
as opposed to a loan, a home equity

803
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,140
line of credit or something like that.

804
00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,100
We talk about buckets, have a strategy that

805
00:33:38,100 --> 00:33:40,620
has graduated levels of risk.

806
00:33:40,820 --> 00:33:43,040
So some portions are more long-term than

807
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:43,440
others.

808
00:33:44,380 --> 00:33:47,000
And then make sure this is all put

809
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,320
together in the context of a financial plan

810
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:53,300
that's designed around your goals, your objectives, your

811
00:33:53,300 --> 00:33:56,180
cashflow demands, your resources.

812
00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:00,200
And get some help in that process to

813
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,560
make sure you're thinking it through deliberately across

814
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,700
a variety of integrated considerations.

815
00:34:07,540 --> 00:34:09,920
It's not just about the portfolio, though that's

816
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,800
certainly an essential part of it, but it's

817
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,580
also about tax planning.

818
00:34:14,780 --> 00:34:17,659
It's also about the cashflow design.

819
00:34:17,860 --> 00:34:20,580
It's also about the things that will bring

820
00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:22,620
you peace of mind when you put it

821
00:34:22,620 --> 00:34:23,260
all together.

822
00:34:23,620 --> 00:34:25,260
Thanks, Brian, for your take today.

823
00:34:25,540 --> 00:34:28,440
Until next time, everybody keeps striving for something

824
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:28,760
more.

825
00:34:30,380 --> 00:34:32,320
Thank you for listening to Something More with

826
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:33,000
Chris Boyd.

827
00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:35,500
Call us for help, whether it's for financial

828
00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:39,420
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those

829
00:34:39,420 --> 00:34:41,460
quality of life issues that make the money

830
00:34:41,460 --> 00:34:42,540
matters matter.

831
00:34:42,940 --> 00:34:46,199
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at somethingmorewithchrisboyd

832
00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:49,400
.com or call us toll free at 866

833
00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:54,900
-771-8901 or send us your questions to

834
00:34:54,900 --> 00:34:58,860
amr-info at wealthenhancement.com.

835
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,000
You're listening to Something More with Chris Boyd

836
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:01,840
Financial Talk Show.

837
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,460
Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Jay Christopher Boyd

838
00:35:04,460 --> 00:35:06,760
provide investment advice on an individual basis to

839
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:07,320
clients only.

840
00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:09,460
Proper advice depends on a complete analysis of

841
00:35:09,460 --> 00:35:10,620
all facts and circumstances.

842
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:12,720
The information given on this program is general

843
00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:14,780
financial comments and cannot be relied upon as

844
00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:16,360
to your specific situation.

845
00:35:16,540 --> 00:35:18,520
Wealth Enhancement Group cannot guarantee that using the

846
00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,540
information from this show will generate profits or

847
00:35:20,540 --> 00:35:21,660
ensure freedom from loss.

848
00:35:21,860 --> 00:35:24,020
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or

849
00:35:24,020 --> 00:35:26,100
conduct their own due diligence before making any

850
00:35:26,100 --> 00:35:26,880
financial decisions.