06 Mar Spring? Forward?

You don’t normally see me commenting on the weather here at the David Feldman blog. But this was a winter for the ages, at least here in New York, as well as many other parts of the US. Snow stranded thousands in Atlanta, flooding, roofs caving in from feet of snow, air traffic bolloxed, it’s truly incredible. I am only now able to see the ground in the land behind my home for the first time since December. That is not how NY winters are supposed to be. And yes, the weather has an impact on the economy, so no need to report that breaking news here.

But with the uncertainties in the market, the economy, the regulatory environment and the legal industry, there are certain things we are able to count on in addition to the proverbial death and taxes. Every year, winter does give way to spring. The signs I’m seeing? Baseball: the grapefruit league in full swing (pun) in southern climes. Clock change: this weekend we “spring forward” and lose sleep while allowing the sun to be up later in the day. Cherry blossoms: starting March 20 those in our nation’s capital will start to enjoy the famous Cherry Blossom festival in Washington (fun fact: the cherry blossoms are not really an American tradition, they were a 1912 gift from the Mayor of Tokyo, Japan). Roth: those of us in the smallcap world know that it is not early March without the annual Roth Capital conference in Laguna Beach, CA. Yes my firm is sponsoring and I will be there.

Study after study shows that our attitude and mood can be meaningfully affected by the weather. If that’s true, we should all be miserable! But, as is my philosophy on all things life-related, optimism takes over and the Spring glass of very slowly melting snow is indeed a bit more than half full today, even as we still struggle with 18 degree temperatures to start our day here in NY! Stay warm everyone….for the moment!