“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”

The attribution of this quotation is less clear than its meaning. As I teach my daughter to drive, it helps me overcome my inclination to hew to parking lots and empty stretches of road. On Saturday she drove the winding cliffs of New Hampshire’s coastal Route 1A at dusk. On Sunday we navigated Portsmouth’s bustling Market Square on one of the first beautiful days of spring.

As I write this week’s post I’m reminded of the uncertain seas that have shaped our careers and given us conviction in our steadfast approach to managing investment portfolios. Reflecting on the years since the Asian Financial Crisis (1997/1998), Russian default and Europe’s adoption of a single currency (1999), Y2K, the dot-com bubble, 9/11 (2001), Enron and WorldCom, the Global Financial Crisis (2008), the taper tantrum (2013), COVID-19, wars in Ukraine and now the Middle East, there have been no shortage of events that have shaped the markets, and us as investors.

We’ve come through these moments with tighter bonds of trust with our clients, portfolios intact, and wisdom for the next crisis. The uncertainty of these last few months has been productive for robust discussions and re-underwriting our beliefs here at Tide Cycle even as markets scale a wall of worry.

In a similar way, I try to coach my daughter to focus on what she can control while anticipating – and being ready to react to – the unexpected. And for every one of those moments where I might want to clutch the armrest and scream “brake, brake” I try to take a deep breath and remind myself that these are the necessary moments to ensure she’s the kind of driver I want her to be.

ARCHIVE
The Fed, May 13, 2026
Planes. Trains and Automobiles, May 4, 2026
Canaries, April 20, 2026
Integrity, April 13, 2026
Liquidity, April 6, 2026
Democratizing Private Equity – Part II, March 23, 2026
Democratizing Private Equity – Part I, March 16, 2026
Watching the Lights Turn Red, March 9, 2026
Watching the Lights Turn Green, March 2, 2026
Las Cucarachas, February 9, 2026
Gold Math, February 2, 2026
Uncorrelated, January 26, 2026
A Contrarian Trade? January 20, 2026
Woe is Me, January 12, 2026
Investing for Impact, January 5, 2026
2025

Tide Cycle Resources (Tide Cycle) is an investment advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. A copy of Tide Cycle’s Forms ADV Part 2 and Form CRS are available without charge upon request. The opinions expressed are those of Tide Cycle. The opinions referenced are as of the date of publication and are subject to change due to changes in the market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. Forward-looking statements cannot be guaranteed. Nothing contained in this document may be relied upon as a guarantee, promise, assurance, or representation as to the future. This should not be taken as specific investment advice. We recommend consulting an investment/tax professional before making financial decisions based on any information provided.

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