2023 A Visit from St. Nicholas
‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the land,
Six days left for shopping, would the stores get a hand?
The dust had just settled; the Fed, it had spoken,
“We have seen our shadow, and we have awoken!”
The rates are in the fives, with Prime past 8,
“We may bring them down!”, said Jerry, (but that I debate).
The stock market was thrilled, it was news of good cheer,
And made everyone wonder, was St. Nicholas here?
When out in my Inbox, there arose such a pinging,
I’ve done all my shopping, why is it ringing?
Away to my laptop, I flew like a flash,
Opened my Outlook, and thought I’d see trash.
But the glow of the screen on my wondering face,
Made it very dramatic when I found the right place.
And what to my wondering eyes should reveal,
But an AI generated news list, and clickbait with no appeal.
The year had been full, but some news was sour,
And the BK attorneys were pleased with each billable hour.
More rapid than eagles, the petitions came down,
And the shareholders and clients had a big frown.
Now, Signature, Now Silicon,
And First Republic too.
Then Rite Aid and Bed, Bath & Beyond,
All through.
Now Yellow Freight, now Party City,
WeWork and Silvergate,
From the top of the heap,
They all dropped the ball.
Now go away, go away,
Go away, all!!
Like the beginning of an earthquake, all quiet at first,
Then builds up its energy, giving out its worst,
So through the year, the news just kept going,
Without any sign of stopping or slowing.
In October, the 10-year bond marked quite a high yield,
Retirees cheered 5 percent, their savings well healed.
Bankman-Fried, a name in the fray,
Was found quilty! GUILTY! The jury he could not sway.
Covid, said China, was no longer a global dread,
So the World Health folks declared the emergency dead.
Pay no attention to the balloons you may see over Montana,
China had no knowledge, so what was the matta?
Continued distraction is the goal of President Xi,
To mask home-grown issues, on that I guarantee.
Newsome and DeSantis, meeting in Georgia,
There wasn’t much said, but insults plethora.
And then Tay-Tay, with her Eras excursion,
Teamed up with Trav and his football immersion,
To create a fan base of Swifties new to the league,
And endear daughters to Dads as they explain the intrigue.
“Where is the recession?”, the pundits would shout?
“Not here!”, said the fed, “of that there’s little doubt”.
Jobs are quite strong (layoffs not withstanding),
Leading many to believe it’ll be a soft landing.
As the year winds down and it goes in the books,
We take a moment and give Christmas some good looks.
What have we done and what we will do,
Will depend on our resolutions lined in the queue.
Changes will come, as they inevitably do,
Just roll with the punches and stay with your crew.
And I say to you all, as I write with much cheer,
Merry Christmas to all and a happy new year!
xxxxxx
Like many people, Christmas is my favorite time of year. We stop to wish people “happy holidays” and offer gifts to signal our love and appreciation for them. A good portion of the business workforce has a week or two off to spend with family and friends, and office workers often participate in Secret Santa exchanges.
I am always introspective at Christmas time; I think it’s an opportunity to look back and see what went right and continue that. I also look for opportunities to improve with a vow to redouble my efforts, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. The wonderful thing about a new year is that it provides a clean slate upon which you can build and measure your degree of success 12 months later.
To all my readers, I thank you for following my emails and offering comments to keep me on track, as well as to provide a different perspective. The Russell Report will take a Christmas break and resume January 8, 2024.
I truly do wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and a new year that exceeds all of your expectations.
