Have you heard the saying "You have to spend money to make money"? As a business owner, I can attest there's truth to this statement with an important caveat: responsible spending should fund future growth opportunities. Irresponsible spending leads to unpleasant scenarios. Unfortunately, most governments continue promoting reckless spending, which over time reduces consumers' purchasing power via inflation. One of the best ways consumers can protect themselves is to ensure a portion of their investments are allocated toward riskier assets, per their investor risk profile such as equities, private investments, digital assets, and bullion like gold and silver What's the benefit? Simply put, over time these riskier assets' growth rates have outperformed inflation, providing greater purchasing power opportunities.

In recent research analytics, I came across a somewhat rare statistical anomaly. You see, it's highly uncommon for oil prices, the US dollar, and the 10-year treasury yield to be near their respective 52-week lows at the same time. Why does this matter? Because over the next 12 months, returns for equities are strong, especially when each of these are in the bottom decile of their historical readings. Since 1984, when all three of these indicators are near their 52-week lows, 12 months later the S&P 500 was positive approximately 80% of the time with an average return of just over 10%. Even better, when those same three indicators are in the lowest decile of historical readings, the numbers increase to just shy of an 89% chance of being positive one year later, with the S&P providing a 17% average return. Here's my point: if you're looking for a catalyst or trend to allocate toward equities -- one of the riskier assets within your profile that I just referenced – well here you go! (page 9-10 Bespoke Report Dec 5, 2025 – covers all facts in this paragraph)

As we head into the new year, one data set I'm interested in reviewing in January, revolves around both the final Q3 and initial Q4 GDP announcements. Q3 appears to be running strong, with the Atlanta Fed forecasting approximately a 3.6% growth rate (page 2 of ATL Fed GDPNow), and after a blowout Black Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season, will this carry into a continued strong Q4 GDP release? Well, that's it for now. Wishing everyone a fantastic Christmas and holiday season, and I'll be back with you in 2026.