Hope

This morning I stopped at Kroger to take advantage of my $0.10 discount on gas. At the next pump there was a middle-aged lady who was driving a blue Honda Fit. She was dressed for work and she looked very tired. I smiled at her and said, “How about those gas prices?" She looked at me and said, “Yeah. We should be rioting in the street!"

Folks, regardless of your political persuasion, I can truly understand why the unnecessarily high price of gas, created by flawed energy policies, could bring folks to contemplate a riot.

WE LIVE (AS ALWAYS) IN TROUBLED TIMES

Millions of illegal immigrants came through our southern border last year, and fentanyl overdoses came with them. Our children’s development was put on the back burner, our allies were abandoned in the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, our supply chains have been damaged by national policies that created disruption and delayed the return to work, etc… And now… Russia… ?Courageous Ukrainians are fighting, and dying, valiantly in a literal David versus Goliath battle, - without our country’s unqualified support…

If you gave all of that a thought these really are a lot of good reasons to riot…

So I looked at this lady, pumping her gas, and said something that I am absolutely positive about. I said, “It will get better!" ?Folks, our nation’s citizens are growing wiser and awakening to the “wokeness pandemic” which has been reflected in illogical, and foolish, government policies.

HOPE

In life, that's the most important thing we can have. We truly lose in life (or in our investment portfolios) when we lose hope, we give up, or we quit. Folks, things are going to look a lot brighter, economically and investment-wise, in the weeks to come. The American people have truly been awakened by twisted healthcare policies that destroyed businesses, heavily damaged our children's education and delayed their development, created an explosion in addictions to unprecedented levels, increased domestic violence, increased DUIs, and increased death worldwide. Whether it be from ignorance or malfeasance, the American people are realizing that our leaders have not had our best interests at heart. ?The European Union (EU) is waking up too. They haven’t been more aligned in many decades and have pledged substantially higher defense spending in NATO as well as military support to Ukraine. Putin has brought the EU and NATO closer together!

Hope. As we approach the second quarter expect things to get much better!

C. Kelly Buckley, MBA, CFP?

Managing Principal

Spectrum Financial Alliance Ltd., L.L.C.

Full listing of all disclosures: (bit.ly/3lGX3mM)?