First of all, who doesn’t love falling back to the phonetic alphabet whenever possible? (It turns out to be particularly useful knowledge when talking bond CUSIPS.) Since her last newsletter, Charlie too has earned her Certified Financial Planner …
Is the Market Predictable? – Not Really, but Human Behavior Is
Human Behavior: Panic The Colonial Pipeline’s hack in May seemed to create gas shortages all along the eastern seaboard. It turns out, there was never a shortage. Instead, simply the possibility of a shortage created panic buying that ended up …
Is the Market Predictable? – Not Really, but Human Behavior IsRead More
Quarter Report Revolution
We are nerding out over here at Columbia Asset Management and have some revolutionary news to share with our clients: we are updating our reporting software to Tamarac Reporting. Not everyone would call that news “revolutionary” but we are very …
GameStop?
GameStop! ….or Stop the Game? This winter GameStop went from a long-fading, electronic games retailer to the talk of the financial world as it routinely rose or fell 50% or more on a single day. The primary reason for these giant moves had next …
The Year that Was… and Was Not
Goodbye 2020 2020 has been one of the most unusual and tumultuous years in American history. Covid-19 struck with little warning early in the year while the highly contentious national election approached with lots of forewarning late in the …
Looping Back to Linda
It has been nearly three years since we started our Columbia Asset Management Employee Newsletter; and, as you can probably guess, we’ve run out of employees to introduce. However, a lot has happened in the world since then, so we’re starting back …
Perspective-A Very Useful Tool During Unusual Times
Back to Normal? The stock market had a strong 3rd quarter on the heels of a major recovery in quarter two. Having been broadsided by the pandemic during the first quarter, markets are now generally around level for the year (some parts up, others …
Perspective-A Very Useful Tool During Unusual TimesRead More
Recovery? Yellow Light Short Term, Green Light Long Term
Bouncing Back? What the first quarter took, the second quarter has largely given back….at least in general. Though Covid-19 is still an unknown factor in the coming months and the resulting societal changes have been putting downward pressure on the …
Recovery? Yellow Light Short Term, Green Light Long TermRead More
A New World!
We hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy! It has not been the same without seeing our clients in person, but we are grateful to be able to continue to assist you all even while we do our best to stay socially-distant from each …
Well, THAT wasn’t on the Radar
The Black Swan Flyeth After an 11 year bull market, I was ready for a bear to show up sooner rather than later. However, I had no firm idea what would finally be the catalyst for a falling market as interest rates stayed low, the economy seemed …
The Precedents on Presidents
Was 2019 to be Expected? The 4th quarter of 2018 was a very tough time in the stock market and the S&P 500 fell about 12% over just 90 days. The low point for the year, surprisingly, was Christmas Eve, when the Dow Jones fell about 700 points …
Opportunity of the Century…..for our Government
Stock’s Magical Levitation The stock market has been bumping along at lofty levels in recent months – trending somewhat up at times and then down again. Overall, it’s still been a very good year in the stock market, at least to date. Though the …
Keeping up with CAM
With a lot of planning ahead and all hands on deck, we’ve executed a successful move into our new office space and it is already starting to feel like ours. We liked the space “as is” when the lease was signed but we had some ideas of how we would …
The Story of Interest Rate Hopes and The Wall of Worry
Hey Bud – Can I Have a Rate Cut?! Some seem to look at the Fed as a drug dealer of sorts –whenever things get a little rough in the market or economy, they look to the Fed to cut interest rates to make everything feel better again. There is a danger …
The Story of Interest Rate Hopes and The Wall of WorryRead More
The Ship Has Been Righted…..and Fast!
The Market Bounces Back! As quickly and notably as the market fell during the 4th quarter, it did the complete opposite this quarter. What does this mean, if anything? It certainly suggests market turns of momentum are often based more on perception …
Broadsided – Ka’boom!!
Fourth Quarter Falls & Follies After an almost 10 year bull market, many were wondering when stocks would finally feel the effects of gravity and trend downward. Though history convincingly shows that the stock market rises over time, it also …
Our Newest Employees
Kory Salagean, office manager, joined Columbia Asset Management in August 2019. Kory graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2018 majoring in International Affairs and Paralegal Studies. What is your favorite part of living in …
Meet the Interns
Emma Hutton, intern, is a fourth-year student in the University of Michigan School of Education. She was born and raised in Ann Arbor, the oldest sibling of her 19-year-old sister and 10-year-old brother. She has played soccer her entire life, …
Whatcoin?
Bitcoin Chitchat Late last year, around the holidays, as Bitcoin was hitting its peak price, I found myself at social gatherings being asked about the Bitcoin phenomenon. It felt similar to the dot-com craze of the late nineties. My typical response …
Brian’s Background
Brian Weisman (CFA®, CFP®, CPA, CMA) founded Columbia Asset Management in 1997. He was raised in Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, graduating with a degree in economics. He started tracking stocks right out of college, after owning …
Results Oriented?
This is Financial Planning? Northwestern Mutual Insurance Co. recently aired a commercial where a sweaty and tired dad is mowing his backyard lawn on a hot day while his surly teen daughter yells that she’s going to a friend’s house, presumably …
Say Hello to Sarah
Sarah Fitzgibbon, financial analyst, joined Columbia Asset Management in 2006. She was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan and graduated in 2006 from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science. After working full-time at Columbia for …
CEO’s Win the Lottery, But Do Shareholders and Employees?
Tax Cuts for Who and for What? Congress recently passed a record-breaking tax cut, mostly for businesses. Having studied economics, I’m unconvinced that cutting taxes, and thus increasing the deficit, makes sense--particularly when the economy has …
CEO’s Win the Lottery, But Do Shareholders and Employees?Read More
Catch up with Christen
Christen Sando, registered investment advisor representative, joined Columbia Asset in 2010. She was born and raised in Kokomo, Indiana, and attended Indiana University in Bloomington, where she graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology. In 2010, she …