The Opening Bell

The restaurant scene is cut a throat business with high turnover but Chicago has experienced a lot of success. Steve Grzanich picked out one of the notable players who celebrated the ten year anniversary of Sunda with Billy Dec (Emmy Award winning TV Host, CEO of Rockit Ranch Productions and Owner of Sunda Restaurants) to learn about how he became a Chicago industry veteran and the other projects on the horizon from Rockit Rranch Productions.  

On March 20th, 2019 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is out today A number of speakers are out speaking about monetary policy on behalf of the Federal Reserve Existing Home Sales report is out tomorrow

The aviation industry saw plenty of news this week, and Brian Sumers (Sr. Aviation Editor at Skift.com) sorted through the most significant stories with Steve Grzanich including the Delta Airlines attempting to diminish unionization thoughts, a “Ryan Air”-like airline expanding in Central/South America & commercial flights reaching space.  

Aside from a few stocks that shook things up on  Wall Street this week, there wasn’t much economic data that guided the direction of the markets. Steve Grzanich and Paul Nolte (SVP & Sr. Portfolio Manager at Kingsview Asset Management) broke down the performance this week as traders look to bounce back from the 2%-3% drop on Monday and the trade war continues to develop. Brian Sumers (Sr. Aviation Editor at Skift.com) explained what was behind the supposed effort from […]

On March 17th, 2019 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: Consumer Sentiment Report is out today E-Commerce Retail Sales data is out today as well John Williams is one of the few speakers out speaking today on behalf of the Federal Reserve

On the global scene, Chinese tariffs and Brexit are still at the top of the list, but Don Lloyd (SVP of Capital Markets – Foreign Exchange and Derivatives at Associated Bank) sees these situations as something temporary, and in the end, the Associated Bank Thought Leader explained how this is a business opportunity with ways to strategize around it. (At 22:16) Brian Amoah (Co-founder of Chicago Crypto Capital – a Blockchain and Cryptocurency Investment Advisory Firm) then updated Steve Grzanich […]

The global markets have been all over the place recently with Chinese tariffs and the UK’s Brexit situation consistently making headlines. Don Lloyd (SVP of Capital Markets – Foreign Exchange and Derivatives at Associated Bank) is looking at the major shift in the global business scene and recognizes that these are opportunities for other countries and businesses to step in and help. Steve Grzanich and The Associated Bank Thought Leader sorted through the major international drivers, but then looked at […]

On March 16th, 2019 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: April Housing Starts will be released today along with data on First Time Unemployment Benefits The Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey is released later today Neel Kashkari is speaking on behalf of the Federal Reserve Walmart, Nvidia and Pinterest all report earnings today

It’s been a long time coming, but the city of Chicago is finally rolling out electric scooters as a transportation option next month in neighborhoods that don’t have many bike share stations. Steve Grzanich and Mary Wisniewski (Transportation Reporter at Chicago Tribune) shared the details of the city’s plan for electric scooters, the main purpose of the scooters, and what Chicagoans should know before going for a cruise (like always wear a helmet).  

Its been over a decade since the 2008 financial crisis, but even with the economic recovery since then, many Americans are going through rough patches with everyday life. Stephen Zuckerman (Vice President and Health Policy S. Fellow at the Urban Institute) noted that the recent Urban Institute research detailed 4 in 10 Americans struggling with housing payments, healthcare, food availability and much more. Steve Grzanich then shifted the focus locally to when the electric scooters will be all over the […]