At the risk of spiking the football on the one-yard line, 2023 has turned into a great year for investors.

History will remember 2023 through the charts and graphs that show the soon to be final year-end results.

Let’s reflect on the messiness that those results will mask – wars, inflation, recession predictions, Fed rate hikes, strikes, a banking crisis, and countless other scares. In other words, investors earned their returns.

To that point, the stock market this year did not grow in a straight line (it never does). Two surges bookended months of choppiness. The MSCI All-Country World Index (ACWI) rose 9% in January, was down for much of February through October, and then spiked 14% after Halloween.

Last year, our year-end note congratulated investors on enduring a brutal year. Thankfully, 2023 rewarded that perseverance.

We’ll have more to say about 2023 in our next quarterly commentary. We hope everyone enjoys the holidays. Here’s to a Great 2024!

Webinar – Tuesday, January 9 at 10 a.m.

We will look ahead to 2024 with Carl Kaufman, Bradley Kane, and Craig Manchuck, the portfolio managers of the Osterweis Strategic Income Fund.

Our conversations with Osterweis are always chock full of wisdom and insight. We are curious to hear their expectations on rates, the economy, and attractive/unattractive parts of the bond market.  

To register for the event, please click here. Once registered, you will receive email instructions on how to join the webinar.

Links

Here are links worth your time:

Interview with Charlie Munger

Legendary investor Charlie Munger passed away last month, one month shy of his 100th birthday. Warren Buffett described Munger as his right-hand man and closest partner.

Shortly before his passing, John Collison, co-founder of financial payments firm Stripe, interviewed Munger. Munger is sharp, funny, and forcefully opinionated. Highlights include his admiration for Costco, harsh view on cryptocurrency, and optimism about China. It’s a long and great listen.

Reflections on the Downsides of Wealth

Morgan Housel, one of today’s best financial writers, wrote a short post about the under-discussed drawbacks of wealth. He uses quotes and stories from Will Smith, Matt Damon, Warren Buffett, and others to illustrate the consequences of becoming rich and successful.

And if you’re looking for a last-minute gift, particularly for a young adult, there is no better book on financial decision-making and behavior than Housel’s bestseller The Psychology of Money.  

Happy Holidays!