#150 - The Uneasy Rebound: Why Small Business Optimism Remains Fragile
Release Date: 10/14/2025
#157 - Market Pauses and Investors Panic
Daybreak with Anton
The predictability of investor behavior can feel almost tedious to anyone who closely follows market activity. Major U.S. indices are wrapping up a third consecutive calendar year of double-digit annual gains, with the S&P 500 up 76.52% and the NASDAQ soaring 119.4% since January 1, 2022. Hopefully, relentless negative messaging from the major media outlets did not keep you on the sidelines and prevent you from participating in these solid gains over the past three years. Listen to this UPdate our view of the AI boom, the recent market pause, and investor temperament.
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#156 - The Limitations of Wealth
Daybreak with Anton
As an investment advisor, I’ve had the privilege of working with clients across the full wealth spectrum from the ultra-affluent to those of more modest means. After more than 35 years in this profession, one truth has become unmistakably clear: wealth has its limits. In this UPdate, you’ll read examples of clients who not only achieved financial success but also made intentional sacrifices to uphold personal standards they refused to compromise.
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#155 - Compassion in Action: Justin and Kelli Blackburn’s Story of Giving Back
Daybreak with Anton
Last weekend, our friends and clients, Justin and Kelli Blackburn, invited us to attend the formal annual dinner benefiting St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Justin and Kelli are the founders of Trinity Constructors, a leading commercial construction company with offices in Texas, Tennessee, and Colorado. Listen to this UPdate our experience attending this dinner event and the impact this organization has had on Justin and Kelli.
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#154 - Announcing Anton’s New Book
Daybreak with Anton
Today marks the release of the 2nd Edition of on Amazon. And despite its title, this book is not just for doctors. It’s for anyone who wants to build wealth, understand financial markets, and achieve financial independence. In this UPdate, we outline key topics in this book that includes an overview of Anton’s research on repeating and unbroken economic cycles of growth and contraction.
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Innovation in Search of a Problem: From Restrooms to Corporate AI
Daybreak with Anton
Engineers have a remarkable talent for inventing solutions to problems most people didn’t even know existed. Consider the humble public restroom. For decades, we managed perfectly well with the trusty twisty-knob faucet—left for hot, right for cold. Simple. Functional. Civilized. Now, in this UPdate, we take a look at businesses pouring millions—and in some cases, billions—into AI, often with no clear plan for how that investment will actually deliver returns.
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#152 - Did You Miss the Gold Rush
Daybreak with Anton
If you missed the market rotation mid last year to gold and precious metal miners, you may be asking if it’s too late to jump on? We started adding gold and silver miners in the first quarter of this year. Gold has become another key asset for our portfolios to diversify our very profitable positions in AI and technology. Listen to this UPdate our analysis of the AI boom and the precious metal rally that began in early 2024 with forecasts of how much longer these trends may continue.
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#151 - Signals of a Stock Market Crash
Daybreak with Anton
Investors are enjoying a robust stock market rally with NASDAQ and possibly the S&P 500 completing three consecutive years of 20%+ annual gains. Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway has amassed a record-breaking cash reserve, reaching an all-time high of $347.7 billion in the first quarter of 2025. This represents more than a threefold increase in just three years, driven largely by aggressive stock sales and what their investment committee led by Warren Buffet perceives as a lack of attractive investment opportunities. Listen to this UPdate our analysis of multiple stock market warnings...
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#150 - The Uneasy Rebound: Why Small Business Optimism Remains Fragile
Daybreak with Anton
Small business owners have endured a difficult four years. Before the global COVID-19 pandemic, many were benefiting from economic growth between 2017 and 2020. But when the pandemic struck, supply chains became strained and inflationary pressures intensified, even as consumer behavior shifted and work moved largely into people’s homes. Consequently, the small business optimism index by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) plunged in early 2020 to its lowest reading in four decades. In this UPdate, we analyze the latest NFIB optimism figures and explore what they might...
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#149 - Housing Boom or Bust?
Daybreak with Anton
My selection of reports to write about is getting narrowed as multiple reporting US Federal agencies have stopped releasing economic data due to the Federal government shutdown. However, just before the government shutdown, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, (FHFA) released their housing price index for July based on home purchases with mortgages financed or bundled by federal housing agencies. Listen to 4this UPdate our analysis of the housing market and potential impact on the stock market.
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#148 - Imports and Exports Costs Declining
Daybreak with Anton
Last week we reviewed the changes in prices from manufacturers and producers. Based on the reports from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual increase of the Producer Price Index (PPI) declined in August to 2.6% Year over Year (YoY) compared to July’s YoY annualized rate of 3.06%. Today, we will look further into the supply chain processes at cost changes of imports to our US producers. We will also look at export costs to our foreign partners as the changes will eventually impact US companies. First, we will look at the import costs that will have a direct...
info_outlineSmall business owners have endured a difficult four years. Before the global COVID-19 pandemic, many were benefiting from economic growth between 2017 and 2020. But when the pandemic struck, supply chains became strained and inflationary pressures intensified, even as consumer behavior shifted and work moved largely into people’s homes. Consequently, the small business optimism index by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) plunged in early 2020 to its lowest reading in four decades.
In this UPdate, we analyze the latest NFIB optimism figures and explore what they might mean for investing in small- and mid-cap sectors going forward.