Read Will's Commentary - Barrons: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is planning to announce its decision on the sale of Silicon Valley Bank this weekend, Barron’s Advisor has learned. A person familiar with the FDIC’s plans indicates that the banking regulator hopes to present a resolution of the auction over the weekend.

I recently accompanied my son’s class on a field trip to something called the Exploreum. As you may have heard, good things don’t end with “eum”. Although certain facets of the trip were quasi-educational, I did take umbrage at their comparison of “playing the stock market” to casinos and the lottery:

Formidable was founded in 2013 as a wealth management firm. Our CEO and founder, Will Brown, wanted to bring a differentiated, active approach to the RIA space. When developing client portfolios, we were unsatisfied with solutions we saw in the market, especially in the alternatives space.

If you think our title sounds like an episode of the TV show Lost, you would be correct. Per Wikipedia, an always reliable source, “’”The Constant” is widely regarded as one of Lost's best episodes, and arguably the best episode of television produced in the 21st century.” I encourage one of our readers to edit this incredibly hyperbolic entry.

We are going to break this month’s update into two separate pieces. First, we will recap a dismal 2022. Then, we will provide our outlook for 2023, and in some ways, beyond. If you want a little more color, we encourage you to listen to our most recent podcast.

In a pleasant surprise, the U.S. made it to the knockout stages of the World Cup. However, as widely predicted, they failed it make it any further. While winning the World Cup would have been truly extraordinary, in the history of American sports, nothing is likely to top the legendary 1980 hockey victory that inspired the titular quote. Such a victory was truly miraculous, at least according to the Oxford Languages dictionary, which defines a miracle as, “a highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment that brings very welcome consequences.” As an aside, we were shocked to learn there is not a Hallmark Christmas movie with this title, wherein “Miracles” is either a town or a dog.