Trend Following: Weed Control for Portfolios

Person holding a dandelion at sunset

A powerful motivator for many parents is a desire to have their children’s upbringing to be better than their own. Better schools, a nicer house, more toys, and better vacations are all things many of us wish for our kids to experience – especially if we didn’t have these things in our own childhood. I…

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Radical Transparency is Good for Business

Transparent marble showing river and rock scenic view

Celebrating Blueprint Investment Partners’ 10-year milestone late last year gave me an opportunity to reflect on two conflicting realities: One of the areas I reflected on was the topic of radical transparency, something that 10 years ago was uncommon in financial services but today seems to be accepted as good for business – regardless of…

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Inflation Autopsy Report

Headstones in a graveyard

Back in 2021, as inflation rates broke out from their long-term range, we discussed a study by the Man Institute about strategies for inflationary times. Now that prices appear to be stabilizing, we can look back and ask, “How did these assets do?” In Theory, These Are The Best Strategies for Inflationary Times Commodities: In the…

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But The Market Always Comes Back…Right?

Roulette wheel and table

A common argument used against tactical asset management in favor of more passive approaches is that the market always comes back. We applaud the optimism. However, we believe building an investment portfolio that assumes the market will always come back is like putting all the chips on black in a game of roulette. It’s also…

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Meteorologists with 8% Accuracy Would Be Fired

Court jester clown

Every year on the day after Thanksgiving, my family makes a two-hour drive west to the mountains of North Carolina on the hunt for the perfect tree to celebrate the holidays. It is no doubt one of my favorite family traditions.  Our tree-chopping outing just happens to coincide with the start of one of my…

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Tennis – Hit Winners Or Avoid Losers

Two tennis players on a tennis court

I recently read Howard Marks’ latest memo, “Fewer Losers or More Winners?” and it reinforced in me that this guy is a true trend follower in his own way (even if he doesn’t realize it yet). Marks is widely regarded as one of the most insightful and influential investors in the world, and his memos…

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Tilting the Index In Your Favor

Man sitting on palm tree trunk growing out over water Bar chart showing 2020 distribution of returns for SPY

“Good Ideas Can’t Be Scheduled” is the title of a 2019 blog post by Morgan Housel of Collaborative Fund. His point was that deadlines shouldn’t be placed on good ideas, regardless of field, but the execution of good ideas is the opposite. One of Blueprint Investment Partners’ best “good ideas” presented itself just like that…

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What Does A Next-Generation Liquid Alt Look Like?

Ingredients on the counter for preparing a healthy meal

As a kid who played whatever sport was in season, when the weather didn’t cooperate, I brought that passion inside to the latest sports video game. It was routine for me to battle my friends in games such as Madden NFL, NBA 2K, MLB The Show, and FIFA. Even the NHL made an appearance from…

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The Market Is Right, And We Don’t Fight It

One Way sign on Wall Street

As a parent, I try to encourage my daughters to be inquisitive and develop cognitive skills by answering their questions with explanations that encourage conversation. Note that I said, “try,” because I’m certainly guilty of looking at them in the rearview mirror and letting out a, “Because I said so!” from time to time. Similar…

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Side Effects of the Stock Market May Include…

Confusing traffic lights

Pretty much everyone has experienced the agony of having their TV watching interrupted by the ubiquitous pharmaceutical advertisement. In fact, they have become so commonplace that an assortment of entertaining spoofs have been created, like this one. As the video above highlights, one of the memorable aspects for many of these medications is the absurdly…

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