Michael's Investment Perspective:
Navigating Wealth, Risk, and Life’s Lessons

Lately, I’ve been keeping a close eye on Steel Dynamics ( STLD ) . I’ve traded the stock in the past for short-term gains and have had some success capturing quick moves, but my focus has shifted more toward dividend-paying stocks and buying the dips . That means I’m always evaluating whether the market is presenting the right opportunities to enter or scale in. Yesterday evening,  Steel Dynamics  reported its third-quarter earnings , and the numbers were solid. The company posted revenue of $4.83 billion , slightly above Wall Street’s estimate of $4.80 billion. Earnings came in at $2.74 per share , beating the consensus of $2.64. For a company navigating tariffs, global competition, and fluctuating steel demand, this is encouraging. A major driver of this performance was declining scrap raw material costs , which outpaced average steel pricing at their mills.  Steel Dynamics  relies exclusively on electric-arc furnace steel production , so scrap steel is a critic...

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about where to park cash safely while still earning a decent return. With high-yield savings accounts offering around 4% and I-Bonds paying 3.98% , the two seem almost identical on the surface. But when I took a closer look, I realized what many of us overlook — the difference between  I-Bonds  and savings accounts isn’t just the rate. More important is how our money compounds and how much of it we actually get to keep after taxes. I’ve owned  I-Bonds  for years, and even though the rate sometimes looks lower, I’ve learned to appreciate how quietly they compound free from state taxes and deferred from federal taxes until redemption. With the next I-Bond rate calibration coming on November 1, 2025 , I’m expecting the inflation-adjusted side of the rate to rise, since it’s based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) . The fixed portion, though, is what really makes certain  I-Bonds  stand out, and that’s what a lot of people ten...