Back in May, it would have been easy to believe I was reading science fiction when I saw the Wall Street Journal report about a newborn whose life was saved by a bespoke gene-editing therapy. It wasn’t science fiction; it was applied science of the CRISPR technology that corrected a genetic mutation that left the baby unable to produce enzymes necessary to properly digest proteins.
If you are younger than 80, it is likely that much of your work and personal communications experience has been shaped by the products of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT). It may have started with early versions of MS-DOS, transitioned to Windows, limited exposure to the recently demised Skype, carries on with LinkedIn, and now ChatGPT. Microsoft is the air we breathe.
It seems I am one of the legions of readers who devour anything Michael Lewis writes the moment it is published. He started with Liar’s Poker back in 1989 but really gained a following with the publication of the soon-to-be-hit movies Moneyball and The Blind Side.
Navigating the Storm
As a fundamental starting point, we try to identify sectors producing earnings growth. The next step is to discern which companies and issues within that sector present a price point of entry that optimizes returns; are the company’s earnings growing as fast, and are the shares cheaper than those of peers?
Peak Uncertainty
We always adhere to the discipline that “if the market is open, we’re here”. The objective is to spot opportunity when it appears. Since the Fed started raising interest rates in March of 2022, however, opportunity sightings seem to have grown scarce and fleeting in our universe of real estate value and growth.