Watch the Replay Download the Slides   Over the last two decades, the James Bond cinematic universe has been taking itself a lot more seriously. The latest installment of the 007 franchise, which was released from 2006 to 2021, dialed down the old Bond tropes like...

Introduction: I’m Sure You Must Have a Lot Of Questions Children of the 1970s and 1980s may remember where they were the first time they saw Tron, the film that showed audiences what the future of cinema would look like. While its state-of-the-art computer animation...

  You’re simply the best Better than all the rest Better than anyone Anyone I’ve ever met “The Best”, Tina Turner   Tina Turner wasn’t the first artist to record the late 1980s hit “The Best” (Wales’ Bonnie Tyler was the first), but the undisputed “Queen of Rock ‘n’...

Introduction: I Thought You Said No More Aches and Pains? “That wasn’t part of the plan.” It’s been a little over two months since we wrote (optimistically) about the softer spring and early summer inflation data, and wow, how things have changed! Or have they?  ...

Introduction: No Pain, No Gain (Literally) “What are you looking so miserable about? There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet!” Last week, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) made its first policy move of Chair Kevin Warsh’s tenure, raising its...

Celebrate this chance to be alive and breathingA chance to be alive and breathing “Parabol/Parabola”, Tool   One of our favorite things about Tool is how the band imbues its lyrics, song structures, album art, music videos, and live shows with deep symbolism, but...

Am I more than you bargained for yet?“Sugar, We’re Goin Down”, Fall Out Boy   2000’s emo and pop-punk is having quite a resurgence, with the return of Warped Tour, a plethora of 20th -plus anniversary tours celebrating great album releases, and even a wave of new...

Introduction: Mourning a Legend “Storms make trees take deeper roots.” The world lost an icon this week when Dolly Parton passed away far too soon at the age of 80. Depending on what generation you belong to, you may know Dolly best for her talent, her wit, her...

  This week we are providing our assessment and analysis of the second quarter U.S. equity earnings season, a quarter that, once again, illustrated remarkable corporate profit growth, which continues to serve as a key pillar of support for many equity market segments....

Another Roaring 20s for U.S. Consumers “Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can!” Through years of lockdowns, re-openings, inflation and policy uncertainty, consumers have done unfathomably well at supporting the U.S. economy in the 2020s. We are now well into...

These days I think are so strange No cuts, no trust Name no names “So Far So Fake”, Pierce The Veil   Given the title of this piece, using Pierce the Veil’s 2023 banger “So Far So Fake,” let’s be clear from the start: we are not calling all of the remarkable earnings...

Introduction: A Strange Trip for Rates So Far in 2026 “I am completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfectly.” Year-ahead consensus predictions rarely get things perfectly right, but it’s fair to say that despite looking very promising for the...