Field Notes Premium Edition

The Fed’s Magic 8 Ball

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 28, 2026 ·

Ask Again Later… The Federal Reserve meets again this week, and Wall Street will study a scatterplot of dots, trying to divine where interest rates …

Ted Baumann · July 28, 2026 ·

Europe Just Fired a Warning Shot I’ve been saying it for years: Europe is going to punish countries that offer citizenship by investment (CBI). And …

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 25, 2026 ·

The next target could be your retirement account. Aesop has this fable about a group of frogs who wish to have a king who can rule over society. …

Ted Baumann · July 22, 2026 ·

Europe Is Raising the Price of Admission For years, Malta has been one of Europe's more attractive retirement destinations. It’s a Mediterranean …

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 16, 2026 ·

It’s the last call for cheap gold… New York Yankee great Yogi Berra said it best: “It’s like déjà vu all over again.” In this case, the vu that …

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 14, 2026 ·

It Doesn’t Matter What the Fed Does. Inflation would just… go away. That’s what then-chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, told the …

Ted Baumann · July 10, 2026 ·

96% of stocks are losers. For years, we've been told that the stock market is the best place to build long-term wealth. And for the handful of …

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 8, 2026 ·

Good instinct. Wrong execution. Donald Trump wants to take America down under. On the surface, it’s not a bad idea. Beneath the hood, however, …

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 7, 2026 ·

The burgers cost more. So will everything else. I celebrated the 4th of July last Saturday with sushi. Honestly, I wanted a grilled burger and a …

Jeff D. Opdyke · July 6, 2026 ·

Forget the Number... The problem with American television is that too often it reminds me of what I miss about those fruited plains. Recently, …