When I was a child, my father frequently told me I needed to have “an ace in the hole.” Whenever I wanted to drop something or focus my intentions elsewhere, he would dust off the “ace…
Thought Leadership
Common Cents Blog
The Highs (Interest Rates and Debt), the Lows (Unemployment) and What It Means for the Rest of Us
Today is Cinco de Mayo. While many Americans think this is Mexico’s Independence Day, it is actually a somewhat secondary holiday south of the border. By just about all accounts, it is more popular in the…
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (May,1, 2023) — Oakworth Capital Inc. (OTCQX: OAKC) reported 35% higher diluted earnings per share and 34% higher earnings in first quarter 2023 than the same period of 2022. Pre-tax, pre-provision income increased 53%,…
This past week, some of us took a personality test here at the office. My answers to the questions scored out as an ENFP-A, or an ‘Active Campaigner.’ According to the website, one of the bigger…
8 Business Exit Strategies: Pros & Cons 1. Intergenerational Transfer (Family) 2. MBO 3. Sale to Partners 4. ESOP 5. Sale to a Third Party 6. Recapitalization (Recap) 7. IPO 8. Orderly Liquidation ________________________________________________ Your business…
For many years, I have maintained that our nation’s greater problems are societal in nature, not necessarily economic. While the two are inexorably connected, we measure economic activity with calculations, equations, assumptions and estimates. After all,…
It seems all anyone has wanted to talk about in the last year is inflation. Before this most recent Federal Reserve intervention – prior to 2020 – we lived in a fantasy-like economy set in the…
Since the start of 2022, the bulk of any discussion around equity markets has begun with economic releases, and the Federal Reserve’s response to those releases. The main question on the line? When will the Fed…
01. INFLATION GAUGES The official 12-month inflation gauges will show marked signs of improvement. However, this doesn’t mean prices are coming down. It means the calculations are replacing much higher monthly numbers from 2022 with lower…
After a confusing 2022, everyone hoped things would get back to some sense of normalcy in 2023. Here we are at the end of 1st quarter, and folks are still hoping and waiting. The data continues…