Good morning.

In 1938, The Mercury Theatre … taking advantage of the melodious voice of Orson Welles … broadcast an adaptation of an H.G. Wells 1898 novel, titled: “War of the Worlds” in which aliens were invading the U.S.

It is now 86 years later … and many have become convinced the U.S. is once again under attack … by mysterious drones … and there are some calling for the interesting defense of just shooting them out of the sky. The problem is that most cases have been found to be aircraft … manned aircraft … and you can be sure bullets aimed skyward would certainly shock many a confused pilot (even before this ammo falls to the ground like rain).

But people have the tendency to panic … and right now there is a bit of panic in the land of investors … as such things as AI stocks … cryptocurrencies … home prices … are escaping the portfolios of many … who are only now gearing up to jump in … forgetting that these … like the alien spaceships attacking in 1938 … could rapidly crash and burn.

Okay, I am being a bit overdramatic with the last sentence … but it just seemed to go well with the story.  More on that in a moment …

Markets today are up … only slightly … in nervous anticipation of Wednesday’s Fed press conference … but almost everyone expects a slight (0.25%) rate cut as they pay close attention to what Chairman Powell has to say regarding future projections.

I mentioned the purchase of things that could be considered FOMO (“fear of missing out”) and I can’t blame the younger (and older) crowd wanting to invest in things where they can get rich quick.  I mean, if you just scan through Tik Tok and Instagram videos, there are dozens upon dozens (how gross) of postings showing how … with a few clicks of a button … you can make thousands of dollars only taking a couple of clicks and few minutes of your time.  I have to admit, I saw some this morning that made me think “hmm … maybe I’ll try that” … but that will no doubt be a topic of a future story.

What got me thinking about this even more than usual?  I just saw a Cerulli Report that there will be $46 Trillion transferred to millennials between now and 2048, in addition to $39 Trillion to those of “Generation X.”  And you can be sure there is only one goal many are interesting in regarding financial literacy … and that is to make a lot of money … risks be damned.  The easiest way to do it? I don’t know … become an influencer perhaps?  But the old-fashioned thought of investing in Blue Chips while reinvesting dividends and gaining wealth slowing might be losing its attraction.

Oh well.

It was good while it lasted.

Have a great day,

Joseph G. Witthohn, CFA

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