While it is exciting to hear your child say their first word or see them take their first steps, nothing compares to the feeling you get in the moment you see a child in sheer amazement after doing something new for the first time. It is truly one of the greatest joys of being a parent. Watching their brain try to wrap their head around something they had only seen on TV or in a book is almost comical. If they were a cartoon smoke would be coming out of their ears. This summer there have been several firsts for our children, where every day seems to bring its own adventure, but a couple of notable ones stand out as more memorable than the others.

COVID put a damper on so many things and the list of those things is endless. One item that impacted so many people was gathering with friends and family. There were countless holidays, weddings and anniversaries that came and went without seeing loved ones. The simplest of social gatherings were nonexistent. We were unable to pay our respects and express condolences at wakes and funerals. The tide has ebbed and flowed for two years and now a sense of normalcy seems to exist increasingly. That is a good thing. Dinners at restaurants with friends and family are continuing to fill the calendar, as they should. Responses to wedding invitations are now a happy “yes we will attend” and no longer a regretful decline. One thing we recently thoroughly enjoyed was a good old fashioned family barbecue. I always love a good barbecue. Cathy’s sister, MaryAnn, recently hosted a full-fledged family barbecue at her house. Not everyone was able to attend for assorted reasons but none of those reasons were COVID related. People had conflicts in their schedule as will always be the case. Family members were out of town or who had to work or for whatever reason could not attend. There were hugs and kisses when people arrived as we were all so happy to be together, in person.

It has been a turbulent 2022 for investors as both stocks and bonds demonstrated a historically weak first half of the year. The challenges facing investors are plentiful as we work our way through the pandemic hangover, which has manifested itself in the form of the worst inflation problem in the U.S. since the 1970’s. There has been a confluence of events leading up to where we have arrived today, much of which has been discussed ad nauseam so far this year (and in our previous communications over market volatility through 2022). With COVID-19 still disrupting global supply chains, further lockdowns in China seem to be inevitable as the so-called COVID Zero policy remains a priority in Beijing. Russia’s devastating raid on Ukraine, arguably the biggest geopolitical threat in Europe since WWII, continues to add pressure to energy costs. All of which contribute to what is, in our opinion, the largest obstacle on the horizon: Inflation. This, in turn, has place a renewed pressure on interest rate policy and has put Jay Powell and the Fed in a seemingly impossible position.