Investing Caffeine

Keeping the Economy Afloat

July 9, 2017 at 12:19 am 3 comments

There have been plenty of concerns about rising interest rates, flattening yield curves, and potential recessions, but we all know that consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of our country’s economy. Well, I certainly met my personal economic duty this summer by putting my consumer spending responsibilities to work. Not only did my family vacation involve approximately 5,700 miles of cross-country flying, but also 1,400 miles of driving all over the East Coast. By placing my credit card charging limits to the test on hotels, Airbnb, restaurants, gasoline, and overpriced tourist activities, I may have single-handedly kept the economy afloat for the rest of 2017.

Here’s a synopsis of the Slome family adventure and my spending spree binge.

Bon Jour Montreal!

View of the city from Mount Royal.

Montréal is the cultural, French-speaking crown jewel of Canada. Unbeknownst to me, the largest city in Canada’s province of Québec is actually a floating island on the Saint Lawrence River. The city name, Montreal, is actually derived from the prominent and picturesque hill at the heart of the city, Mount Royal.

Port of Montreal – Cirque de Soleil tents in the background.

Finger Lakes Fun

Ithaca, New York is located at the base of the Finger Lakes (Cayuga Lake) in upstate New York. With a population of around 30,000, this college town is home to my business school alma mater (Cornell University), which was founded in 1865 and home to a total of more than 20,000 students.

Taughannock Falls, which is Native American for “great fall in the woods,” is a 215-foot waterfall making it the highest single-drop waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains.

My drone shot of Cayuga Lake and a small portion of the Cornell University campus.

Niagara Falls

We chose to check out the 176-foot Niagara Falls from the Canadian side of the U.S.-Canada border. About 34 million gallons per minute flows during the summer time, and our drenched extremities were proof positive of this fact.

Panoramic view of Niagara Falls from Journey Behind the Falls.

View of Horseshoe Falls from 520 feet in the air while on the rotating restaurant in the Skylon Tower.

Rockin’ It in Cleveland

Cleveland is the second-largest city in Ohio, located on Lake Eerie. Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers may have lost in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, the city still rocks. The “Forest City” is home to the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame designed by renowned architect I. M. Pei and the well-known West Side Market.

The iconic pyramid-shaped Rock and Roll Hall of Fame located on the beautiful Lake Eerie waterfront.

It’s a little known fact that Cleveland is home to the original Christmas Story movie house. The movie was set in the early-1940s but released in 1983. Nostalgic items such as the infamous leg lamp, Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model BB gun, and photos of Ralphie can be found in the adjacent museum.

Slomes Seize Steel City

We discovered the vibrant city of Pittsburgh, also known as the “Steel City” and “City of Bridges” (446 bridges), at the intersection of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers “Three Rivers”. This sports-driven city is home to the World Champion Penguins (hockey), Steelers (football), and Pirates (baseball) professional teams. My dad grew up here and attended the University of Pittsburgh (“Pitt”) for both his undergraduate and medical school degrees. The rolling hills landscape provides some breathtaking views of the city, especially from Mount Washington.

Downtown Pittsburgh from Mount Washington.

The 42-story Gothic Cathedral of Learning located at the center of the Pitt campus – the second tallest university building in the world.

Gettysburg – Civil War Galore

As we began our eastward trek, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania offered a beneficial dual purpose in providing both a valuable history lesson and also a pit-stop on the way to our next vacation location. It was dumb luck rather than strategic planning that landed us at Gettysburg on the 154^th anniversary of the greatest but bloodiest Civil War battle in July 1863 (half way through the Civil War 1861 – 1865). The United States of America may have looked a lot different if the 75,000 Confederate troops led by General Robert E. Lee would have defeated the 97,000 Union troops commanded by General George Meade. However, when all was said and done, the anti-slavery Union troops defeated the Confederates over a three-day battle, which resulted in more than 6,000 deaths and greater than 50,000 casualties. President Abraham Lincoln honored the fallen Union soldiers in his famous two-minute Gettysburg address four months after the battle (November 1963). In the speech, Lincoln provided an important historical context of the battle, which ultimately turned the tide of the Civil War in the Union’s favor as they fought for human equality.

A view from the Gettysburg battlefield on the 154thanniversary of the famous Confederate-Union clash.

Looking for enlightenment as I sit next to Abe outside the Gettysburg Museum.

Wade Watches Washington

Stopping at the nation’s capital was a logical progression, as we continued our East Coast adventure. Whether you are a political junky or not, it’s difficult to not get sucked into the grandeur of this majestic city of roughly one million (including commuters) on the Potomac River. The District of Columbia borders the states of Virginia and Maryland and is named after President George Washington, a man who shares the same birthday with me. Between the memorials, monuments, museums, entertainment options, and restaurants, there is no shortage of activities to choose from in this spectacular city.

The Lincoln Memorial had new meaning after our Gettysburg visit.

We stopped to say hello to President Trump, then the president and I both decided to send out a tweet.

Beach Blast

Completing our journey at Virginia Beach was no accident. All of our speed vacationing required a little R&R, and turned out to be a blast in more than one way. Not only did we enjoy soaking in the miles of beaches and hundreds of hotels and restaurants along the oceanfront, but we also appreciated the 4^th of July fireworks blasting right outside our beach resort.

Nice view outside our oceanfront room.

A little relaxing cruise time down the strand.

Like any vacation, the 2017 summer family adventure eventually came to an end. No matter what I believe or say, the debate about the timing of the next recession and/or bear market will rage on for eternity. But the fact remains, despite an unemployment rate of 4.4% near cyclically low levels, there is still a record high of six million job openings available, which means there is still plenty of slack in the economy to sustain economic expansion. Although I will continue to save and strive to maintain positive investment performance figures, I will also do my best to keep the economy afloat with my consumer spending and travel binging habits.

P.S. If you spend more time vacation planning than investment planning, give us a call…we can help!

www.Sidoxia.com

Wade W. Slome, CFA, CFP®

Plan. Invest. Prosper.

DISCLOSURE: Sidoxia Capital Management (SCM) and some of its clients hold positions in certain exchange traded funds (ETFs), but at the time of publishing, SCM had no direct position in any other security referenced in this article. No information accessed through the Investing Caffeine (IC) website constitutes investment, financial, legal, tax or other advice nor is the information to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. Please read disclosure language on IC Contact page.

Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Cleveland, economy, expansion, family vacation, Gettysburg, investment planning, Ithaca, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, recession, Slome, unemployment, vacation, Virginia Beach.