Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation (Authored by Sally Hogshead)

I wrapped up this audio book by Sally Hogshead and had some really nice take-a-ways.  As a guy who always took notice of “fascinating people” but wondering what made them FASCINATING – this book provided some clarity.  I am not a fascinating person naturally (IMO), so I am constantly looking for ways to improve that.  Sally takes it a step further than the actual PERSON being fascinating, and talks through ways to have your products more compelling and your businesses more captivating.  If you like self-improvement books, give this one a shot and pick up some interesting ideas that you can implement into your daily life.

Political Misfires Mean Good News for Munis (Barrons, Lewis Braham)

If you own municipal (“muni”) bonds, then you are probably happy with this years’ returns.  Most of my clients have some exposure to muni bonds in their taxable (i.e. non-IRA) accounts because of their relative safety compared to stocks as well as their tax-free interest.   Known to be more of an income investment, muni bonds’s positive performance is usually driven by the interest.  But so far in 2017, we’ve seen price appreciation in addition to that interest. This article attributes this rise in munis to the failure of the tax-cuts, health care reform, and lack of infrastructure spending that has not come to fruition.  Interest rates are also lower in 2017, which helps create bond price appreciation. Might the run in muni bonds slow down? Potentially. Probably. But for now, muni bond owners are riding a nice wave and clipping tax free interest along the way.

7 pieces of investment advice from Warren Buffett (Business Insider, Vintage Value Investing)

If you are like me you have read books by Warren Buffet, studied his investment philosophy, and owned Berkshire stock.  But the quotes that he has come up with never get old to me.  Here’s a quick read with some of his best investment quotes.  My favorite (and what inspired the name of my company TrustTree Financial):  “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”  Ahh…I LOVE IT!  I mean, how true is that?  What a masterful quote from the Legend Warren.  I just love that mindset, and how it applies to the buy good companies and hold them mantra.  More people need to practice that, for sure.  There’s a couple other oldies-but-goodies in his quote bank – have a look!