☕ A special update from Keith

Good afternoon! 👋  

I trust you’re enjoying a fabulous Saturday wherever this email finds you. 

My bride and I have finally made it back to the PNW after what can only be described as a truly epic trip. 

Just not the one we thought we were taking. 😊 

Let me explain. 

After four magnificent days working our way east through the mountains and into the badlands of South Dakota, we had to unexpectedly change course when our bike blew a casing in the middle of nowhere.  

We’re experienced motorcyclists so contingency planning goes with the territory just like it does with the markets. Not a big deal in the scheme of things. 

A few hours later, we hitched a 150-mile ride on a flatbed tow truck into Sioux Falls, SD where JL Harley Davidson tucked the Multistrada away until HAULBIKES can bring it back to us next month. Then, rented a lovely Nissan Murano from Avis to continue to Lake Geneva, WI where I was super excited to deliver a long-planned keynote address on Tuesday and for a meet and great with OBAers on Friday in Kenosha. 

Only I woke up with a nasty case of Covid Monday. Doh! 🤦‍♂️ 

Long story short, my bride took over the driving duties to get us home. Meanwhile and not one to waste a moment of our road trip, I decided to work on my landscape photography from the passenger seat along the way between naps.  

Here’s a shot you may enjoy from just east of Livingston, Montana. 

Thankfully, I’m on the mend and my bride continues to be symptom free.

My goal is to be back in the saddle come Monday, albeit probably not as early in the day as usual. So please keep an eye on your email. 

As for the markets, hooyah! 

I told you point blank last January that the Fed was far more likely to hold rates steady until mid or late summer when Powell finally got benched even though the “smartest people in the room” were blathering on incessantly at the time about the inevitability of 5-6 rate cuts.  

“Invest in the best,” I said because big money traders would do everything they could to get ahead of the Fed. Not drive the markets off a cliff as was narrative from many. 

I hope you did. 

The S&P 500 has tacked on 18.13% YTD with many of the stocks we talk about frequently doing considerably better.  

My annual S&P 500 target is still 5,751.51 but that could prove to be conservative if Unka Jerome really cuts loose at the upcoming Jackson Black Hole confab. 

Anyway, I’m ready for a nap. 

Stay healthy. 

The current round of Covid hits hard and, chances are, is coming to a neighborhood near you if it hasn’t already. The new so-called “FLiRT” variant apparently accounts for 75% of infections here in the United States. 

Btw and speaking from first-hand experience, frozen black cherries and Hot Tamales really do cut the metallic taste associated with Paxlovid! Not sure my dentist will be on board with that program, but what the heck. 🤷‍♂️ 

Bottom Line 

Success in the markets doesn’t come from anything you do occasionally.  

It comes from what you do consistently. 

See you Monday and, as always, thanks for being part of the Five with Fitz Family. 

I’ve missed you. 

Keith 😊