Beyond the Noise: Five Principles for Building Durable Wealth
Dividends drove 85% of cumulative S&P 500 return since 1960 and held up when prices fell. Five principles for wealth that survives a bad decade.
Record Highs Then Crash Week Ending 12/13/2025
Broadcom dropped 11% in a single session despite beating earnings estimates— AI margin concerns triggered the selloff, not weak fundamentals. The Federal Reserve cut rates by 0.25% to a range of 4.25%–4.50%—its third consecutive cut this year—but signaled only two more cuts through 2025. Central banks bought over 1,045 tons of gold in 2024—the third […]
The Courage to Do Nothing: Why Inactivity is the Ultimate Wealth-Building Strategy
Forced selling turns a temporary drawdown into a permanent loss. Why holding through a correction beats trading it, and what the behavior gap costs.
October Market Analysis: Monthly Performance & Key Events
October 2025 market review: a sixth straight positive month, technology up 6.7%, and a quarter-point Federal Reserve cut behind the move.
The Great Reversal: 5 Trends Fueling an Energy Counterrevolution You Weren’t Meant to See
Five energy trends running against the official story: capacity, demand, capital discipline, permitting, and the parts of the transition that stalled.
OpenAI’s AI Workforce Plan: A Strategist’s Analysis of the New Jobs Platform and Certification Arms Race
By David L. Berkowitz, Founder and Chief Investment Officer at ValueAligned Partners With over 40 years of experience in investment management and corporate finance, David’s insights stem from decades of firsthand research, portfolio leadership, and executive advisory work. He developed the ValueAligned Investing framework, blending classic value investing with modern performance metrics, such as EVA, […]
Weekly Market & ValueAligned Portfolio Review – August 23, 2025
The Powell Pivot: Fed Signals Rate Cuts, Igniting a Friday Market Reversal The U.S. equity market experienced a week of profound reversal, characterized by four days of risk-off sentiment that culminated in a dramatic, broad-based rally on Friday. Through Thursday’s close, major indices were on track for a losing week, weighed down by a slide […]
CPI Report Signals Fed Pivot Ahead — Time to Get Your Small-Cap Shopping List Ready
This morning’s CPI report just told us something big: the Federal Reserve’s days of keeping its foot on the market’s throat are numbered. And when they finally let up, the fuse under small-cap stocks is going to light fast. Inflation is Cooling, Policy is About to Shift July’s Consumer Price Index rose just 0.2% for […]
The Fed’s Lag Problem: How Shelter Inflation Keeps Its Boot on the Neck of Small Caps
July’s CPI print should have been a green light for rate cuts. Instead, the Fed is still tapping the brakes — and small caps are paying the price. Shelter: The Outsized Driver In July 2025, headline CPI came in at 2.7% year-over-year, with core CPI (ex-food and energy) at 3.1%. Those numbers look manageable — […]
Market Week Review July 28-August 1
Stock Market Week Analysis: Tariffs, Jobs Data Shake Confidence as Fed Faces Leadership Shakeup Introduction The U.S. stock market faced a turbulent week ending August 2, 2025, dramatically shifting from a period of sustained highs to significant downturns. Economic uncertainty escalated amid disappointing employment data, significant tariff impositions, and a major shakeup within key government […]
