Weekly Update:     Good Morning! The stock market is continuing its incredible performance. The economy is looking good. Business news on CNBC is positive. Unemployment is low, and consumer confidence is high. When I turn on Fox News or MSNBC, I feel there is a parallel universe. It is easy to get sucked into this world of negativity. I do, however, expect your institutions to continue to face the

Weekly Update:     Good Morning! Over the last month, the goal of my daily message is to highlight profitability. I have touched on: • Deposits – Lack of growth in the industry and the increasing cost of funds. • Loans – The irrational fear of raising loan rates. • Investment duration and yield – Having the proper duration for your institution. • Loan to Deposit ratio – Higher is

Weekly Update:     Good Morning! It is with great excitement and apprehension that I report I cut the cable cord. Yes, with a 4-year-old who loves to watch Princess Knight (children’s TV show) I cut the lifeblood of my daughter’s entertainment (at least I thought). I did, however, maintain internet service. An important point, as we still have access to the world. Change is hard at first, at least

Weekly Update:     Good morning! We are in the last few days of what we call Asset Liability Management (ALM) season. What is ALM season? It is the busy time of a quarter when we are presenting ALM reports to our clients. We finalize our reports and meet with our clients to dispense timely advise. It is a busy and extremely fun time at McQueen Financial. This ALM season

Weekly Update:     Good morning! It is exciting to talk about the new loan and lease loss reserve process that is called Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) which is why everyone keeps asking for more information! *A disclaimer: People who sell products to people are product salespeople. Positions which will probably be replaced by Amazon or Wall Mart. All of us at McQueen Financial feel that we are partners

Weekly Update:     Good Morning! I am looking out over the peacefully quiet horizon contemplating what to write about the economy in my Monday morning MFA musings. I feel that the economy is going well. Overheating? I think the answer is not yet. But, there are a few signals that are popping up on the horizon that are making me think more carefully on this topic. The concerns that

Weekly Update:     Happy August! The sun is out, and it is summer. And, school starts in 3 to 4 weeks…. I keep hearing the question “when is the recession starting?” I also keep hearing the statement “a recession will happen next year, or early 2020.”   I ask why they feel this way. The two main answers are: We have been in the longest economic expansion ever. The

Weekly Update:     Good Morning! We have three newsworthy economic releases to ponder this week: There is exciting news for the economy as the U.S. GDP grew at a rate of 4.1% for the second quarter of 2018. It is the fastest growth rate in almost four years. This reflects the jump in consumer and government spending. This should not be a surprise as we have talked extensively about

Weekly Update:     Good morning! Today is the two-for day as we have two topics to discuss: The first topic is the plethora of economic data. These are a few of the titles that we saw this week: • First-time jobless claims fell to the lowest levels since 1969. • Worker shortages, rising costs hemming in U.S. economy, Fed’s Beige Book finds. • U.S. housing starts tumble in June.

Weekly Update:     Good morning! The world is full of naysayers. It is easy to say one cannot do something versus actually getting up off of the couch and doing it yourself. And, just as I give the advice, I will be reminded that I thought the French would never win the World Cup and Tesla would never increase production. Congratulations France on a 4-2 victory! Along the same