A Modest Proposal – Again

On September 25, 2024, we posted a blog, “A Modest Proposal”, discussing endless political efforts to increase revenues and the contrast between current income taxes and the very modest initial goals of the Federal income tax.  Now comes the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), that has filed a ballot initiative for the November 2026 California … Continued

Sigma Signals

Week of February 9, 2026 Last week’s market scoreboard: silver struggled, Bitcoin fell, and U.S. equities (excluding software names) performed well. Volatility was front and center, but the broader takeaway remains clear: long-term investing, paired with appropriate guardrails, is far more likely to produce successful outcomes, while speculation often leads to financial heartache. Our Signals remain unchanged. Bob … Continued

Diversification

Investopedia defines diversification as a risk management strategy that creates a mix of various investments within a portfolio. A diversified portfolio contains distinct asset types and investment vehicles in an attempt to limit exposure to any single asset or risk. This definition is well-known and adopted by most investor advisors. Information is key to making decisions and … Continued

Sigma Signals

Week of February 2, 2026 In our December 8, 2025 Sigma Signals, we noted the sharp rise in silver prices and suggested that a collapse was likely, comparing the setup to the “recent crash-like behavior in certain cryptocurrencies.” Silver prices plunged 30% from recent highs last Friday, underscoring the risk of speculation and the difficulty … Continued

“If You Build It, He Will Come”

This is the lead line in the 1989 sports fantasy drama film, “Field of Dreams”. The premise of the film is that if the farmer who owns the land builds a baseball field in his cornfield, the ghosts of baseball legends will come and play. Now we have the White House demanding that manufacturers step … Continued

Sigma Signals

Week of January 26, 2026 U.S. GDP growth in the second half of 2025 was significantly stronger than anticipated. For much of the year, policy uncertainty dominated the narrative, leading many economists to expect economic weakness. As ever, forecasting is imperfect, and short-term noise can obscure longer-term trends. Our Signals remain unchanged. Bob Bilkie, CFA

Sigma Signals

Week of January 19, 2026 President Trump continues to weigh how far the United States is willing to go to intervene in Iran. The Ayatollah’s partial retreat from the use of force against protestors has, for now, helped preserve the regime. As Niall Ferguson notes in The Free Press, meaningful regime change would likely require … Continued

Balance Sheet Roulette

Institutional DeFi platform Sentora recently published a new report, arguing that the corporate adoption of bitcoin as a treasury asset, while popular, resembles “balance sheet roulette.”  The report goes on to suggest that bitcoin’s scarcity and programmability make it an unprecedented corporate asset. But, without scalable yield and durable financing, this is a dangerous game. The … Continued

Sigma Signals

Week of January 12, 2026 Deniable plausibility or “shock and awe”? That is the dilemma facing the Trump administration as it weighs how to support the Iranian people amid ongoing protests against their government. Iran has warned that U.S. intervention would prompt retaliation, including disrupting shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf and targeting American bases … Continued

Investigate Before You Invest

This is an old adage that remains relevant but is becoming increasingly difficult for individuals to implement.  Investment opportunities are becoming more complex and may involve fewer familiar products and services.  Investors still have several attractive options, including seeking help from their advisor(s) and considering more diversification. Here at Sigma, we have a team of … Continued

Sigma Signals

Week of January 5, 2026 Recent U.S. military action targeting Venezuelan narco-terrorists may carry meaningful positive long-term implications. Our assessment of global risk has consistently centered on China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as the primary sources of geopolitical instability. In the near term, further escalation by these regimes appears less likely following this demonstration … Continued

Least-Worst Solutions 

Least-worse refers to choosing the option that is the least negative or detrimental among a set of unfavorable choices. There are many other expressions with a similar message, such as, “don’t make perfect the enemy of good” and, in medicine, “first, do no harm.” In the realm of decision making, the concept of “least-worst” refers … Continued