weekend notes

Hope all goes well… “Not sure how many years I got left in me,” he said, climbing our way up “25 Short”, its summit at 9,975 feet, Grand Teton towering above us. “I’d like my kids to be old enough to see the work I do, to understand what mountain rescue really is, to appreciate my commitment to service,” he said, twenty years my junior. The two of us sharing stories, the sun hot, air cold. He told

Anecdote: My first trade ever was in the corn pit. 1989. Don’t remember if I bought or sold, but I lost money on the trade. Losing on trade #1 was supposed to be good luck, and that’s probably right. If you learn to take a loss right out of the gate, you’ve at least got a shot. Lots of people say markets go up because there are more buyers than sellers, and vice versa, but that’s not right. There

Hope all goes well… “It’s subtle, you’ll feel it,” said my guide, backcountry, Wilson Wyoming. “Just a thin layer of crust, eight inches down, it’s not much, but could spark a slide.” We pushed the handle of our poles gently into the snow. She was teaching me the science of avalanches. I was recounting my case for digital assets, a thought piece from early 2021 [see here]. Taking turns talking, co

Anecdote: “I’m going to tell you about the worst day of my life,” said the Master Sergeant, an Army Ranger, enlisted at 17 years old, three Iraq/Afghanistan tours under his belt, standing on stage. My son Teddy and his four thousand fellow cadets hanging on every word. “I’m lying in hospital, and the WiFi didn’t work, so I got no legs, and now I got no WiFi?” he said, the hall erupted. Master Serg

Hope all goes well… Interstate 15. Headed north from Salt Lake to Wyoming. A truck stop in Idaho. Poverty, poor education, meth, opioids, lack of opportunity, hopelessness, who knows. Walking human wrecks. The old store manager mostly deaf. A kind kid with dead eyes relayed my order, yelling into her ear. Hi skinny arms, homemade tattoos, blurry blue ink. The same thing you see in northeast Vermon

Hope all goes well… Dusted off an anecdote from 2014 about life’s ten superpowers (see below). Enjoy President’s Day weekend. Back next Sunday with full wknd notes. All the very best, E Week-in-Review: Mon: Chinese Lunar New Year holiday begins = quiet markets, ECB’s Panetta says the reversal of policy is fast approaching, RBNZ gov Orr pushed back against recent bank calls for more hikes, Moody’s

Anecdote: “This is a thinking job,” said Lone Star. “It’s not a doing job,” continued one of America’s best-performing endowment CIOs. “It’s a job for people who pull on strings to see where they lead.” I smiled. “We screen for people with a natural curiosity and an interest in puzzles,” he explained. “Because, this game is a puzzle that’s always changing.” When I started One River in 2013, Lone S

Hope all goes well… “You were recruited as an offensive midfielder?” asked the reporter, yesterday’s post-game interview, Navy lacrosse had just beaten Hofstra 16-8. “I was,” answered Jackson, face paint dripping down his cheeks. “And did you resist being moved to defensive midfield?” probed the reporter, because of course, offensive midfielders generally consider a move to defense to be demeaning

“Some get away with it longer than others,” said Yoda, high in the Rockies. “But sooner or later we all face adversity. And that’s when you find out.” I sat quietly, patient, my mentor. “That’s when we explore what’s important, how to get back on track. And if we’ve been truly tested, that track may not be the same path as before,” he said. “The way to handle our greatest challenges is to invert t