I am currently almost finished with the third of four books I bought about the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Cultural Revolution) in China. Admittedly, this is not the topic of discussion at cocktail parties in my…
Thought Leadership
We believe communication is the key to successful client relationships. While sharing useful information is beneficial, regardless of source, Oakworth believes in the value proposition of developing and having its own experienced financial professionals and ideas. By generating our own market commentaries, economic newsletters, topical subject analysis and serials, and even conversational podcasts and videos, our clients know we are using our knowledge, creativity and experience to help them succeed.
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released “The Employment Situation – July 2025.” In it, the BLS reported the U.S. economy created 73K net, new payroll jobs, and the unemployment rate ticked up slightly,…
This past Wednesday was my wedding anniversary, and I had done absolutely nothing to celebrate. To be sure, Beth and I had a little trip to New York in the works to celebrate. However, as for…
The performance of the stock market in Q2 is even more impressive given the environment and backdrop at the end of Q1. On February 19, 2025, the S&P 500 made a new all-time high.(1) But momentum…
IRAN’S OIL GRIP: UNDER THE RADAR, OVER THE BARREL If you’re only looking at production numbers, Iran might be dismissed as a second-string energy player – outpaced by Saudi Arabia, sidelined by sanctions, and mostly boxed…
ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION During the 2nd quarter, economic globalism either seemed to have died or veered wildly off course. If actions speak louder than words, domestic investors didn’t really seem to mind too terribly much. TARIFF THREAT…
TRUMP’S FIRST TERM EFFECTS Whether you agreed with his policies or not, the stock market loved Trump during his first term in office. The S&P 500 grew at a blistering clip of 64% during his first…
Predicting the future of U.S. economic growth used to be pretty easy. All you did was take what happened during the previous quarter, then either add or subtract based on your analysis of a host of…
At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, many people questioned how things could get any more chaotic than they were in the first. It didn’t take long to find out. On April 2, speaking from the White…
Recently, the headlines have been anything but boring. However, you might be surprised by how difficult it has been to come up with interesting topics for this newsletter. After all, while the world may seem like…