Daybreak with Anton

#157 - Market Pauses and Investors Panic

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The predictability of investor behavior can feel almost tedious to anyone who closely follows market activity. Major U.S. indices are wrapping up a th...

#156 - The Limitations of Wealth

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As an investment advisor, I've had the privilege of working with clients across the full wealth spectrum from the ultra-affluent to those of more mod...

#155 - Compassion in Action: Justin and Kelli Blackburn's Story of Giving Back

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last weekend, our friends and clients, Justin and Kelli Blackburn, invited us to attend the formal annual dinner benefiting St Jude Children's Researc...

#154 - Announcing Anton's New Book

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today marks the release of the 2nd Edition of Physicians' Guide to Wealth on Amazon.   And despite its title, this book is not just for doctor...

Innovation in Search of a Problem: From Restrooms to Corporate AI

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Engineers have a remarkable talent for inventing solutions to problems most people didn't even know existed. Consider the humble public restroom. For ...

#152 - Did You Miss the Gold Rush

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you missed the market rotation mid last year to gold and precious metal miners, you may be asking if it's too late to jump on?  We started adding ...

#151 - Signals of a Stock Market Crash

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Investors are enjoying a robust stock market rally with NASDAQ and possibly the S&P 500 completing three consecutive years of 20%+ annual gains.  Mea...

#150 - The Uneasy Rebound: Why Small Business Optimism Remains Fragile

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Small business owners have endured a difficult four years. Before the global COVID-19 pandemic, many were benefiting from economic growth between 2017...

#149 - Housing Boom or Bust?

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

My selection of reports to write about is getting narrowed as multiple reporting US Federal agencies have stopped releasing economic data due to the F...

#148 - Imports and Exports Costs Declining

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last week we reviewed the changes in prices from manufacturers and producers.  Based on the reports from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annua...

#147 - Inflation is Down and Tariffs are Up?

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

To determine the future costs of consumer goods one needs to monitor the costs to producers.  If producer costs go up then it is only a matter of tim...

#146 - Rescue Work in Hunt, Texas

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Many of you read about the tragedy in the small town of Hunt in the Texas Hill Country.  Torrential rain poured from July 4th to the 7th and then res...

#145 - The Stagnant Housing Market of 2025

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the Federal Reserve raised their discount rate 500% in 2022 and 2023 taking mortgage rates up with them, housing activity has hit a brick wall. ...

#144 - Perception vs Reality

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There is a widening range of sentiments between individuals and business owners. The question is who is right and is perception reality?  As we have ...

#143 - Are Turbulent Times Ahead?

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

My grandson, Anton the 5th, and I flew our Piper Cherokee laterally across the country from southern Texas to the Annual AirVenture event in Oshkosh, ...

#142 - AI Coming to a Job Near You

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

AI has exploded onto the scene led by supercomputing chips by Nvidia (NVDA).  Initially, CEO's and CTO's (Chief Technology Officer) were evaluating t...

#141 - Cost of Goods Annual Increases are Finally Slowing

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month of June had increased to 322.56 points or 0.3%. On an a...

#140 - Inflation and the Future of Prices

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The rapid rise of interest rates causes significant changes in lending activity and especially in the housing mortgage market.  According to CNBC, t...

#139 - Disparity Widens of Optimism Between Executives and Households

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the complex and extensive ecosystem of the US economy, the fundamental core of its sustainability and continued growth all depends on the consumer....

#138 - Retirement During Volatile Markets

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For many of our retired clients, they had successful careers and are now enjoying their retirement years.  Stock market volatility is difficult to na...

#137 - Investors Panic and Resolve

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 The first four months of 2024 have been a wild ride for Wall Street.  Investors don't respond well to change, and their typical response is to sell...

#136 - US Economy Roles On

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This year investors have been challenged to navigate market volatility that so far has been based more on speculation than facts on the economy.  Sin...

#135 - When Great is Not Good Enough

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since the inauguration of President Trump, investors have been very nervous about his administration's aggressive policy changes and process.  He and...

#134 - Trump Is Not the Economy

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Institutional investors have once again become headline driven.  Institutional traders seem to base their daily trading strategy on Trump tweets pani...

#133 - Uncertainty During a Growing Economy

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The stock market is currently selling off over concerns of pending tariffs, similar to the investor fears that led to the 2022 selloff. In 2022, inves...

#132 - It's Not Over Yet

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

George Foreman affectionately known as "Big George" died this week on March 21 at the young age of 76.  He has many accolades to be remembered by tha...

#131 - Case for Staying Invested

12 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For the past week, major media outlets have opined on the stock market volatility speculating whether this is the beginning of a significant stock mar...

#130 - Falling Markets in Stable Economy

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since December 6, 2024, the US stock market has been trading in a flat range up to February 19.   However, the flat trading range weakened on Januar...

#129 - Consumers Climb Wall of Worry

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The University of Michigan released on Friday their Surveys of Consumers reports. The February report indicated that consumers' concerns are building ...

#128 - Positive but Rocky Start for 2025

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Investors entered 2025 with cautious optimism as stocks continued their strong rally, led by tech and AI. Despite a brief selloff in January, mome...

#127 -Manufacturing Orders Up and Job Availability Down

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US economy continues to improve in many areas that would indicate continued positive momentum and continued growth.  In this UPdate we will focus...

#126 - Market Fragile After Two Year Rally

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After two consecutive years of robust US stock market gains, investors are nervous about stock values and meeting high growth expectations, especially...

#125 - Freedom is the Secret Sauce of America

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We have mentioned in past UPdates the importance of monitoring the financial and sentiment of US consumers.  The primary reason is American spending ...

#123 - Start the Year Strong

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It may be just physiological, but I really enjoy January.  Granted it's just another 30-day period like any other month.  But January is motivating ...

#122 - Small Businesses Owners Turn Optimistic

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) index has been well below its 50-year average of 98 as respondents report challenges with lab...

#121 - SHOPPING, SHOPPING, AND MORE SHOPPING

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

My daughter loves to shop.  In fact, her two love languages are shopping and someone paying for it.  Apparently at least the shopping part is also a...

#120 - Homes for the Homeless

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Late Friday afternoon on November 29, 2024, Anton and 61 others traveled from San Antonio to Reynosa, Mexico to volunteer for Strategic Alliance to bu...

#119 - The Sputtering Housing Market

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The housing market is facing challenges with plummeting sales and high mortgage rates, but rising new home construction and potential rate declines in...

#118 - Trump 2.0 What Can We Expect

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Looking back at Trump's first term offers insights into potential market impacts of his second. In 2016, markets rallied after his election, while...

#117 - Labor Costs Continue to Rise as Inflation Slows

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

I don't know about you, but it seems costs for everything is getting crazy.  My wife went to the grocery store and items that were $9 last week are $...

#116 - Consumer Spending Building Momentum

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

September retail sales increased 0.4% from August and the third consecutive month over month (MoM) it has increased.  The 0.4% is substantially highe...

#115 - Client and Friend Events

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2020, we used to host multiple client and friend dinner events each year.  Read in this issue about our d...

#114 - More Jobs Less Supplies

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today we have received a trove of economic reports that indicate that companies are still hiring and growing while it appears the economy is in a mild...

#113 - Is Housing Reaching a Bottom?

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The very low volume of existing home sales reported last week by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) would indicate the continued impact of cur...

#112 - Small Business Owners Still See Headwinds

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released its Small Business Optimism US Index today indicating it has decreased to 91.2 in Augu...

#111 - Summer Stock Market Selloff Continues

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After a long Labor Day weekend, investors started the first trading day of September by selling.  The reason floated out by the main media for the se...

#110 - Summer Pause and Rebound

29 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As we forecast in June, the US stock market to enter a period of weakness with stock prices declining during the summer after the major indices had a ...

#109 - Consumers' Pandemic Hangover

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Explore the paradox of low consumer confidence amid a booming stock market in our latest analysis. Discover how media narratives might be leading inve...

#108 - Small Businesses Feeling Better…Sort Of

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The National Federation of Independent Businesses released today their Small Business Optimism report.  In the report, they track the results of the...

#107 "R" Words are Back

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday the world markets sold off as investors stampeded out of the market selling their client's portfolios as fast as they could.  What spooked ...

#106 - Summer Market Correction

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A summer market correction is well under way after a strong first half of 2024 for the stock market.  Over time the S&P 500 on average increases abou...

#105 - Interest Rates, S&P500 Pullback, and Presidential Campaign Impacts

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In today's market, interest rate trends, the recent S&P500 pullback, and presidential campaigns are key topics, influencing inflation, market volatili...

#104 - How Can Companies Be More Productive?

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

 The holy grail for companies is achieving maximum productivity growth at the most profitable revenue ratio. For publicly traded companies, investors...

#103 - When to Sell

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since the stock market bottom on October 14, 2022, the major indices have rallied significantly.  During these past 20 months, the tech-based NASDAQ ...

#102 - Nvidia Rally Continues

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We added Nvidia (NVDA) to our Growth & Income and Growth model portfolios early last year.  Since then, the stock price has soared.  This year insti...

#101 - Winners and Losers in May Retail Sales

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Census Bureau released last week the advance projection May report of the Index of Economic Activity (IDEA) that includes information how consu...

#100 - Consumer Are Changing Where They Spend

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this podcast we identify that consumers are changing how they spend their money.  It appears people are buying less fun stuff like vacations and h...

#99 - US Manufacturers Slowing as Global Grows

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The most recent economic tsunami was the 2020 pandemic that significantly disrupted all business and specifically manufacturing.  Manufacturers were ...

#98 - Consumers Are Uncertain of the Future

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week the Institute for Social Research (ISR) of the University of Michigan released their monthly report on consumer sentiment.  For the May rep...

#97 - Stock Market Rolls On

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve raised the discount interest rate 11 times since March 2022.  The last rate increase was in July 2023 as the CPI trended down fro...

#96 - Small Business Owners Still Glum

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released their April report of the small business optimism index.  The index ticked up ...

#95 - Secrets to Building Wealth

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why do some investors build wealth consistently over time while many have little to show in growth after years of investing?  In this Weekly Brief, w...

#94 - Consumers Earning and Spending More

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its monthly report on consumer income and spending.  The report indicated that personal income ros...

#93 - Housing Navigating Through High Interest Rates

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Census Bureau reported today that March housing starts plummeted 14.7% month over month (MoM) to 1.321 million.  This reverses February MoM ga...

#92 - Rebound in Retail Sales

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Therefore, to understand the financial health of the US we need to look no further than to monitor the financial health of households and consumers. ...

#91 - More Good News.... Darn

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The media and analysts are back to the good news is bad news routine.  Meaning that when economic news is positive then the potential of the Federal ...

#90 - Movement of Money

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One economic indicator we monitor is the US Purchasers Manufacturing Index (PMI).  This index is based on monthly questionnaire surveys of selected c...

#89 - Housing and the Stock Market

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The start of new construction housing increased 10.7% to 1.521 million units month-over-month to an annualized rate in February after falling 12.3% in...

#88 - When Will Small Businesses Join the Party?

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Although many companies are experiencing record sales with the stocks hitting all-time highs, the small business sector seems to be missing the party ...

#87 - Will It Be Another Deja Vu Wild Ride of Hyper Inflation and Interest Rates

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A January 2024 Gallup Poll indicated that Americans mentioning the economy as a key issue has risen almost three-fold since 2019.  In the category of...

#86 - Consumer Confidence Improving

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index was released for February 2024.  We need to monitor this economic indicator on consumers an...

#85 - What Happen to the Recession?

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week's podcast dives into the disconnect between media-driven recession fears and the actual economic growth seen despite the Federal...

#84 - The Changing American Population

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This year there are more people turning 65-year-old in America than in any other time in history.  Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, ar...

#83 - Hot Labor Market

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In last week's episode, we dove deep into the seismic news that shook Wall Street to its core – the latest January US Bureau of Labor Statistics job...

#82 - Santa Claus Predictor

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Explore the 'Santa Claus Predictor' in our latest podcast episode. Learn how the S&P 500's performance during key December and January dates can signa...

#81 - Americans Feeling Good!

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The American consumer sentiment, heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Federal Reserve rate hikes in 2022, has been recovering sinc...

#80 - A Look Back at 2023 and Forward to 2024

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2023, the stock market, led by major tech companies, saw significant gains with the S&P 500 up by 26%, while the fixed income market experienced un...

#79 - US Economy Ends Well, Now On To 2024

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our expectations of a stock market yearend rally were modest due to waning retail sales and consumer confidence reported in October.  As it turned ou...

#78 - CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday was Christmas and already it seems like it was yesterday.  We are fortunate to have seven of our ten grandkids living close to us.  As a r...

#77 - Help Wanted For Christmas And Beyond!

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today the slow continual decline in job openings that remains at historic high levels. Meanwhile, unemployment...

#76 - Seasoning for the Sage Investor: What's on the Market's Menu?

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching (along with friends and families), we take a look at how inflation is impacting the country and especially the c...

#75 - Market Rebound!

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Explore the market's triumphant week with our latest financial briefing. Discover how small and mid-cap indices like the SP600 and SP400 outshone thei...

Episode 74. Values And Perceptions

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The stock market is always moving as investors adjust their portfolios to their perspective of the economy and their stock holdings.  The result is t...

Episode 73. Good News is Bad News Again

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is good news really bad news for investors? The media would like you to think so.  Today, the US Census Bureau released their report indicating that...

Episode 72. Small Business Owners Still in Recovery

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The small and mid-cap indices continue to trail their large cap and NASDAQ peers.  Is it time to consider investing in these trailing sectors or wait...

Episode 71. Fraud Alert

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this Weekly Brief we review many of the scams our clients have experienced in hopes of preventing you from getting scammed.  Scammers are getting ...

Episode 70. Investing for the Long Term

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The S&P 500 has declined 8% since it peaked on July 31 the year high and now at its 200 Day Moving Average.  Is this a time to sell or buy and what w...

Episode 69. Consumers Spending and Investors Sentiment

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Consumer sentiment has declined for the third consecutive month. Is this a precursor to another mild holiday season? In this Weekly Brief we review t...

Episode 68. Overcoming Tragedy

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anton shares in this Weekly Brief his experience of a near death plane crash one year ago and the emotional recovery process since the crash.  Not ev...

Episode 67. Consumer Engine Still Strong

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Consumer spending is the economic engine for the US economy and they appear to be in good shape.  The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that consu...

Episode 66. Investors Holding their Breath

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cash savings balances are near all-time highs. When overall trading is thin (like in August when many investors are on vacation), the market is prone ...

Episode 65. NO HELP WANTED

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Institutional investors' biggest fears for the past two years are the impact of rising interest rates due to the Federal Reserve rate hike campaign. ...

Episode 64. Good News! Stock Market Rally Finally Stalls

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The stock market has taken a pause since peaking its year high on July 31.  Is this the beginning of a more protracted correction or a new buying opp...

Episode 63. Small Business Owners Still Concerned About The Future

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) release their report on the sentiment of small business owners. Although the index ...

Episode 62. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Thinking about Christmas may be a bit early for you, but not for retailers.  Executives of all businesses that depend on consumer spending are deep i...

Episode 61. The Disappearing 401K Plan

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

President Biden signed the SECURE 2.0 on December 29, 2022 that has improved in many ways the ability to save for retirement.  However,  it is impor...

Episode 60. Time is Everything, or Is it?

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve has recently announced its 10th rate hike in an effort to curb inflation, leading analysts to predict a potential recession ...

Episode 59. LIVING

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014 my wife gave me a gift certificate for an introductory flight.  That 45-minute flight sparked a lifelong interest in flying that resulted in ...

Episode 58. Is US in Recovery or Heading into a Recession?

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are the fears and worries in 2022 of a recession in 2023 coming to fruition?  In this Weekly Brief we review the challenges the Federal Reserve faced...

Episode 57. Small Business Owners Still in Recovery Mode

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday's National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) survey on small businesses indicated many key aspects about the health of small busin...