Lorrie Walker

09/01/2026

Ick. I've been dreading this day for a very long time but alas, the time has come. The time has come not because I said so, but because LPL Financial said so.

I must upgrade my iPhone if I want to keep using it to access work-related apps. My iPhone XR, released in 2018 🤣 no longer supports the operating system necessary to continue accessing work stuff.

This is the longest I've kept the same iPhone. Yes, I have to perform CPR on it occasionally. But it always comes back to life.

Do I know my Apple password? No.

Am I looking forward to transferring over all the unimportant junk I store for no good reason in my current phone? No.

Am I feeling anxious because I have to get this done by Sept. 15? Yes.

Please pray for me. Thank you.

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08/25/2026

I attended a Washington County Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday where someone mentioned that rental property owners strive for a 7% annual return on their investment.

Michael and I owned a rental property once and we didn't enjoy it. We had a great tenant who was a friend, but each time he called we panicked. Our first thought always was, "Oh no. What's wrong with the house this time?" It was a happy day when we sold that house.

I've always believed rental property is a great investment. However, I cringe any time someone refers to it as "passive income." You work for that income. It is anything but passive.

Sometimes I wonder why people do it when you can invest in mutual funds that have a 50+year track record of averaging 10-12% returns annually. THAT is passive income.

If you own rental property, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

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08/13/2026

08/13/2026

Consumer inflation rose .1% month over month in July, making the annual inflation pace 3.4%.
Source: LPLResearch

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08/10/2026

What an exciting week it was in the markets last week! New records were set in the and DJIA. The SP500 ended the week up 3.52% and is up 13.27% year-to-date. Here's a roundup of other financial news from last week:

👉Energy fell -3.56% but remains up 28.05% YTD
👉Oil fell -8.73% but remains up 34.59% YTD
👉Natural gas fell -3.17% and is down -27.84% YTD
👉Gold was up 7.46% and and up .66% YTD
👉Silver was up 10.44% and is down -11.24% YTD
👉European stocks marked a fourth consecutive advance and closed near all-time highs
👉Asian markets logged a third straight week of gains
👉Core bonds, as measured by the Bloomberg Aggregate Index, traded higher
👉July payrolls shrank by 23,000 but the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2% the previous month. Looking past the headline, total private payrolls grew by 30,000 in July, slightly below the break-even rate. The topline decline was mostly due to a decline in local government education payrolls (-49,600). Ironically, federal and state payrolls grew a net 4,000. Healthcare jobs remain on an upward trend, gaining 22,000, but at a slightly slower pace than the 12-month average gain of 36,000. Several categories, such as construction, manufacturing, and oil & gas extraction, showed little change over the month. If we look at weekly employment data, we see minimal stress in the labor market despite the negative payroll print for July.

Source:

08/05/2026

I'm basically my own tech support now. 💪🏾

08/04/2026

What. A. Day.

The closed up 1.79% at 7,736, and the Dow closed up 1.71% at 54,085 today.

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08/04/2026

SpaceX reported second quarter results today that topped estimates — its first report as a public company — which comes as the stock has been in a recent free fall.

SpaceX reported Q2 revenue of $7.8 billion versus $6.81 billion, per Bloomberg consensus, up sequentially from $4.7 billion in Q1. SpaceX posted adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 billion vs $2.0 billion consensus expected.

SpaceX stock slipped in after-hours trading.

Source: Yahoo Finance

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08/04/2026

Should you rely solely on Artificial Intelligence tools for ?

07/31/2026

Hold my calls. I'll be hanging out at the Possum Festival all weekend. 😉