Hello all.
I apologize in advance for the majority of this newsletter being mostly about family goings on. However, we just returned from a trip that we have been planning and saving for for years. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and I wanted to share some of this with you.
My Dad’s family is from a small town in Sicily called Castellammare del Golfo. This is about 40 minutes West/Southwest of Palermo. 16 years ago, we had taken a trip as family and had the good fortune of being able to meet and spend time with his cousins who are still living there. Since that time, we have kept in touch, some of them have visited us in the U.S., and we see each other and communicate on Facebook.
Well, last year, Mom turned 80, Dad turned 85 this year, and they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in July. We all thought it would be amazing to put together a huge family trip to celebrate these wonderful events. We started the planning process 5 years ago and got serious last summer. Lo and behold, 36 members of our family were able to make the trip from the U.S. to Sicily! Virtually every member of our (Zambri) family was able to arrange their schedules to make the trip! We never thought that would be possible.
We are beyond thankful for this and so appreciative of being able to do this.
I have attached 3 of the (literally) thousands of pictures that were in our group shared photo album. The first is from a dinner that was held at my father’s cousin’s home in Castellammare. Between the U.S. family and the Sicily family, there were over 60 of us there! This picture is of the “next generation”. It is my children, their U.S. cousins and their Sicilian cousins. We couldn’t get everyone to fit in one picture, so we split it into “generations”.
The second picture is of my Mom and Dad dancing on a moving boat in the Tyrrhenian/Mediterranean Sea! We had chartered a catamaran for a half day tour. When the Captain and his wife discovered that my parents had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, they played a special song for them. Spontaneously, my parents started dancing. There was not a dry eye on the boat when all was said and done.
The last picture is of my immediate family from a balcony of the hotel we stayed at in Castellammare. As you can see, even the 2 grandbabies made the trip! They were amazing. Virtually no crying and so much excitement. The next time you see me, ask me to show you the video of my grandson after he got home. He wanted to go back to Italy!
There is so much more to say, but I am running out of space.
I do want to spend a few moments on business. As I write this in the late afternoon of 8/21/25, the markets have continued to have strong performance Year-to-Date. The last few days have seen some declines. Still, overall, it has been a very good almost 8 months of the year. I would expect that, at some point, we will see a move downward. This is simply to be expected after such a strong run.
However, many of the fundamentals are still very positive. That being said, I am starting to see some cracks in the employment and consumer spending numbers. It will be important to see if these continue. Some important events in the next few weeks will be the Employment, CPI, and PPI data that will all be released within the first 2 weeks of September. These will go a long way to determining if the Fed will cut rates on 9/16/25.
For what it’s worth, I personally believe that there will be a 0.25% cut. Should there be any big surprises in the above referenced data, that could change.
Finally, I would like to remind you to tune into my radio show, Financially Speaking, every Wednesday evening at 5:00 pm. It airs on 103.9 FM, LI News Radio. If you are out of the station’s listening range, you can go to their web site, www.linewsradio.com, and click on the “listen live” link or you can download the LI News Radio app. This is a great way for you to keep up with what’s on my mind, my thoughts about current conditions, and some timely information about financial planning topics.
Until next time, be well and God Bless!
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. There is no assurance that the views or strategies discussed are suitable for all investors or will yield positive outcomes. Investing involves risks including possible loss of principal. Any economic forecasts set forth may not develop as predicted and are subject to change. References to markets, asset classes, and sectors are generally regarding the corresponding market index. Indexes are unmanaged statistical composites and cannot be invested into directly. Index performance is not indicative of the performance of any investment and do not reflect fees, expenses, or sales charges. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results