The Opening Bell

Many of us would do anything for our families and this week’s Associated Bank Thought Leader conversation with Christy Pedersen (Vice President and Financial Adviser at Whitnell – Part of Associated Bank) touched on how they can play a role in retirement yet also hinder it. Steve Grzanich introduced Christy into the Thought Leadership lineup discussing a recent whitepaper she wrote detailing how unexpected family demands later on in life can take a significant toll on retirement savings leaving retirees […]

On January 31st, 2018 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The Challenger Job Cut Report is due today along with initial jobless claims The Chicago PMI Report is out today reporting on new home sales The EIA Natural Gas Report is released today along with the Federal Reserve Balance Sheet Amazon, GE, UPS, The Hershey Company, 1-800-Flowers all report earnings today

A new addition to the Associated Bank Thought Leader lineup as Christy Pedersen (Vice President and Financial Adviser at Whitnell – Part of Associated Bank) joined Steve Grzanich to learn about the difficult situations one might encounter with family members (and how to solve them) when retirement is on the horizon or right around the corner. Greg McBride (Chief Financial Analyst at Bankrate.com) then recapped the Federal Reserve’s first meeting of the year and decided to hold off on raising […]

The Chicagoland area has the chance to reach a new record cold, but what is causing all of this weather fluctuation and the bigger question: how does this relate to climate change? Steve Grzanich discussed the subzero weather and the polar vortext with Dr. Jennifer Francis (Sr. Scientist at Woods Hole Research Center) to provide a valuable comparison to differentiate between our day-to-day weather and the overall climate. Ryan Burrow (Reporter at WGN Radio) then dove into his recent radio […]

On January 30th, 2018 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The ADP Private Payroll Report for January kicks off the day The first estimate on the Q4 GDP is out today (a slowdown of growth is expected) The Pending Home Sales Index for December is expected to recover The Federal Open Market Committee wraps up it’s meeting AT&T, Boeing, McDonalds, Royal Caribbean, Sirius XM Radio, T. Rowe Price, Dolby Labs, Melendez International, US Steel and Visa all report earnings […]

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland wrapped up over the weekend, and after being there all week, Heather Long (Economics Correspondent at The Washington Post) explained to Steve Grzanich that it closed on a somber note as the many of the participants were preoccupied with the lack of qualified workers in the workforce, climate change, and other global issues. John Sullivan (Director of The Illinois Department of Agriculture) then joined the program to preview his new position in the […]

On January 29th, 2018 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The Federal Open Market Committee begins their first meeting of 2019 The Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November is out today along with the January Consumer Confidence Report Dover Corporation, 3M, Harley-Davidson, Lockheed Martin, Pfizer, Philipps, Verizon, Xerox and other report earnings today

If you ever thought about getting into the farming industry, now could be your time to take that leap of faith as a new hemp market makes it’s way into the agriculture community in Illinois. Steve Grzanich discussed the upcoming hemp market, working with the newly elected J.B. Prtizker, and the overall outlook on the agriculture industry here in Illinois for 2019 with John Sullivan (Director of The Illinois Department of Agriculture).  

Chances are if you ask people in the US about the violence problem in the country, they might say its worse than it is. Steve Grzanich discussed this misconception about our country’s violence with John Gramlich (Writer and Editor at The Pew Research Center’s “Fact Tank”). The two shared the latest from a recent report about updated facts on US violence and how the picture we hear about in the news is, “far from a perfect one.”  

On January 28th, 2018 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The Chicago Fed National Activity Index is out today along with the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey Caterpillar reports earnings today along with Whirlpool Corp