Our perspective on recent market volatility
With markets reacting to developments in the Middle East and oil prices moving higher, we wanted to briefly share our perspective on what is happening and how we are thinking about the situation.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Brennan McArter, our Associate Investment Advisor, nominated The Between Friends Club.
Why? “I chose them because growing up with a special needs brother, I have seen the benefit of these programs firsthand,” said Brennan. “Not only has it been something for him to look forward to, but a place where he was included and celebrated for who he was.”
“The Between Friends Club is a Calgary-based charity that provides social programming for kids and adults with special needs. Some of the many services this organization provides includes social and recreation programs, volunteer training for those interested in working with special needs individuals, financial assistance for individuals with special needs and scholarship opportunities for further training in the field. Through the years, I have been lucky enough to meet other parents of individuals with special needs who have shared similar stories of the positive impact it has had on not only the individuals in the programs but also the families.”
Please follow along on our LinkedIn page and our website as we highlight a new charity every business day until December 22nd.
From the entire team at the Baun & Pate Investment Group, we wish you and your family a very happy Holiday Season and prosperous New Year.
With markets reacting to developments in the Middle East and oil prices moving higher, we wanted to briefly share our perspective on what is happening and how we are thinking about the situation.
Markets are not pricing that reality. Investors still treat the AI build-out as marginal cloud spend or another overhyped software cycle. They debate whether Big Tech is “exhausting its available capital” or whether capex “must mean revert,” as if infrastructure were optional and competition courteous. They are using valuation models from the wrong century for the wrong game.
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and were able to enjoy some quality time with friends and family. As we begin the new year, we wanted to share a brief update on how markets finished the fourth quarter, reflect on the strong results from 2025, and outline our outlook for the year ahead.
Historians are likely to regard Donald Trump’s presidency as a pivot—as significant as any in U.S. history comparable to the Jacksonian turn, the New Deal, or the Reagan Revolution. Yet Wall Street remains strangely somnolent, pricing in neither the durability nor the depth of what is unfolding.
We have some exciting news to share with you. After much thought and reflection, Baun & Pate Investment Group has a new name: Aspire Wealth Partners.
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