Mark's Investment Blog
Mark’s Investment Blog
As President of BankChampaign, not only does Mark Ballard stay current on industry trends and best practices, but he shares his financial expertise on his
Has A Black Swan Landed In The Financial System?
UPDATE #2: This is officially the second largest bank failure ever UPDATE: California bank regulators have closed SIVB down – this typically means they will
The Fed Speaks – Rates Will Be Higher For Longer
We discuss where the stock market is and potentially could head given interest rates being higher for longer.
Energy Supply/Demand Imbalance Will Drive Macro Investing Trends
Introduction If you read my recent “2023 Investment Focus” blog post, you will see that I noted several focus areas for investing during 2023, and
2023 Investment Focus
If you read the 2022 In Review series on this blog, you got a feel for how we managed to outperform the stock market in
2022 In Review – Part 4
This is the final entry in our 2022 In Review series. It relates directly to the earlier posts in this series, so I recommend you
2022 In Review – Part 3
Recap In the first two installments of 2022 In Review we looked at how our model portfolio performed compared to the stock market (favorably) and
2022 In Review – Part 2
RECAP In the first post of this series, I discussed the stock and bond markets’ performance for the year and compared that to our Model
2022 In Review
THE MARKETS We all lived through 2022 and it was an ugly year in the markets. Both stock and bond indexes were down in double
Geopolitics and Its Impact on Investment Strategy
Just before the Beijing Olympics, Russia and China issued the statement below that is intended to change the world order. In it, it gave Russia
Market Turmoil: Our Plan In Action
What’s Up With The Market? The S&P 500 peaked on January 4th and it has been a volatile ride down since that date. The prospect
Food Shortages (and Higher Prices) Ahead
Nitrogen Fertilizer Shortages and Their Impact On AG Stock Prices