The Latest from Spartan Planning

What Investors Think Should Happen Versus What Is Actually Going On “The plural of anecdote is not data.” –Roger Brinner As systematic trend followers, we make decisions using price data. It appears to us that many in the investment world take a different approach,...

Using History As A Guide, Without Being Married to the Past “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” –Alan Watts In our recent client engagements, a prevailing sense of bearishness has surfaced due to negative...

Having Rules Means Never Having to Guess What to Do Next “A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.” –Norman Vincent Peale At Spartan Planning Group, we think a lot about survival. If you spend a few days with our team, you'll know that phrases like “Protect and...

Beware of Grasping at the Shadow “Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.” –Aesop The world of investing is often clouded by the allure of being right: the shadow, as Aesop would say. In our view, this loses sight of the substance: the...

These last few weeks have been wild, haven’t they? Two of the largest bank failures in US history occurred over a single weekend. And many would say the failures were largely preventable.  First - Silicon Valley Bank was in the news as having failed and a takeover by...

"It can be very expensive to try to convince the markets you are right." —Ed Seykota Even When Traveling Through a Storm, Some Paths Are More Pleasant Than Others We can’t control the market. No one can. This should be self-evident, but it doesn’t always feel that...

By now, you’ve seen countless articles and heard numerous soundbites about the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impacts thus far around the globe; there is a growing, but limited number of cases in the United States. Whether you are fearful about the impact this virus...