Can widespread adoption of AI lead to enough productivity gains to make shorter work weeks economically feasible? JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has suggested that future generations of employees could work a day and a half less every week thanks to AI. In America, a 40-hour, 5-day work week is generally considered to be the … Continued

Week of January 27, 2025 From ChatGPT: “When calculating equity investment performance during each presidential term, the inauguration date is typically used. This is because the inauguration marks the official start of the presidential term and the point at which they assume the powers and responsibilities of the office.” We would argue with this “conventional … Continued

The Crisis in Property and Casualty Insurance Premiums Is the insurance industry going to determine where you live and what you drive? Most of us are aware of the acceleration in residential and automobile insurance premiums.  Now, the industry seems to be not only seeking to protect their profit margins, through special rates for higher … Continued

Week of January 20, 2025 Commentary The ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel is a positive step in the short term, though violations remain a possibility. The past couple of weeks have been relatively stable from a news cycle perspective. By the time this is published, a new president will have been inaugurated. The early … Continued

Week of January 13, 2025 A New York Times article from January 9th reads with the headline; Iran Was ‘Defeated Very Badly’ in Syria, a Top General Admits. The article states that General Esbati revealed in a speech in Tehran, “I don’t consider losing Syria something to be proud of…We were defeated… we took a very big blow … Continued

This is the title of a January 1, 2025 commentary in The Wall Street Journal, in which the author summarizes the significant cost difference between green energy and fossil fuel generated power. On January 30, 2023, Sigma posted a blog titled “It’s Going to Take a Lot of Green to go Green.”  As noted at … Continued

Week of January 6, 2025 “It is possible to have too much of a good thing” is a quote traced back to the Greek storyteller, Aesop. A nearly universal idiom that applies to everyday things; food, water, and, yes, the stock market. Calendar year total returns for the S&P 500 in 2023 and 2024 were … Continued