Last week a significant IT outage rippled through global systems, which ironically was triggered by a defect within a software update made by the global cloud cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The update caused approximately 8.5 million Microsoft 365 cloud devices around the world to malfunction, and fixing the issue has required complex patches that have taken time to implement. Many sensitive areas of our day to day lives were impacted including air travel, hospital systems, and banks, as well as many other businesses. Luckily this was an accident rather than a nefarious attack, which may have ..read more

In the summer, conversations with friends and acquaintances often lead to the topic of travel plans. With schools on break and the days warmer and longer, many families opt to hit the highways or the tarmac in the summer months. Having just returned from a trip ourselves, our family can attest to the popularity of getting away around the July 4th holiday. In fact, TSA checkpoint volumes for commercial air travel through US airports reached an all time high on Sunday, July 7 with over 3 million travelers screened. Not to be outdone by the purveyors of experiences, sellers of goods are again pro ..read more

Last Tuesday, Hurricane Beryl made landfall on Grenada’s Carriacou Island in the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm. This event marks the earliest recorded Category 5 hurricane to develop in the Atlantic, signaling a very early start to the hurricane season. The abnormally warm waters of the Atlantic this year facilitated Beryl’s development and have led meteorologists to predict an ominous hurricane season ahead. As ocean surface temperatures rise, we can expect to see a longer hurricane season and an increase in the number of storms. The intensification of the Atlantic hurricane season poses se ..read more

Selling a business is a challenging decision. Often, the seller is so committed to their business that they would like to continue to benefit from growth after the sale. There is a solution: an equity rollover. An equity rollover occurs when a business owner sells their company but reinvests a portion of the sale proceeds into the new entity. Typically, an equity rollover involves the seller: Receiving cash, debt, and equity in the newly formed entity. Reinvesting part of the sale proceeds back into the company. Maintaining a minority ownership stake. For example, if an owner sells their bus ..read more

The following “Weekly” has been contributed by a Chinese citizen living in Shanghai. We are keeping the name of the author anonymous. “China is a large country with a long history and many people.” This sentence succinctly summarizes Chinese society. Based on my five years of experience working at a financial regulator in Shanghai, I believe that politics is crucial whether you’re doing business, investing in China, or simply trying to understand the daily news. This is my personal reflection on the impact of politics on Chinese society today. China’s political system is deeply influenced by C ..read more

Demographic trends in the industrial parts of the developed world are fascinating to follow. Several factors contribute to a country’s ability to grow and expand its GDP, including the availability of health, housing, education, and leisure resources. Historically, a major contributor to GDP growth has been population growth. But what happens if population growth stops and begins to decline? Since the 1950s, the global fertility rate has dropped significantly from five children per woman of childbearing age to 2.2. To maintain our global population, the birth rate needs to be 2.1. Currently, 5 ..read more

Recently a major landlord company in Atlanta was raided by the FBI as part of a nationwide investigation into apartment rent price-fixing. What began in 2022 as a class action suit by renters in several states has now escalated into a national criminal investigation, and is impacting dozens of the largest property owners and managers across the country. A couple of landlords have settled on undisclosed terms, but many others are maintaining a defense. The DOJ, Federal Trade Commission, and several State Attorney Generals are leading the crackdown. The outcome could materially change how p ..read more

In the 1987 movie Barfly, Micky Rourke’s character is a soul-searching alcoholic who hangs out in bars pondering life’s mysteries. “Who are you?” a patron asks. “Ah, the eternal question” is Rourke’s response. On the 1976 album “One More from the Road,” Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant reflects on a reporter asking him, “Who are you, man, who are you really?” Van Zant’s response was to write the hit song “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller.” I am just returning from two weeks in Spain prompted by a birthday with a big round number, a wedding anniversary of increasing magnitude (we’ve almost been mar ..read more

The United States is a land that just keeps giving. In the early days of our nation, it was the fertility of the soil that helped feed a growing population and attract newcomers to gain the freedom to prosper. Our country’s natural harbors in Boston and New York facilitated trade. The Mississippi River provided an economical transit route for goods grown and made in the productive heartland. Oil discovered in western Pennsylvania in 1859 fueled the Industrial Revolution. By 1970 though, it seemed U.S. oil production had peaked. Output declined steadily over the next four decades. If you lived ..read more

I remember vividly the UK’s years of high inflation in the 1970s, which included strikes by the coal miners union, power cuts, and rationing. We bought in bulk because prices were going up by double digits annually. The period was marked by a deep recession from 1973 to 1975, during which the price of a barrel of oil quadrupled. The stock market suffered dramatic losses while the price of antique furniture appreciated at the rate of inflation or greater. This was a time when some would talk of antiques as a better investment than stocks or bonds. The assumption was that there would always be a ..read more