The hot US stock market couldn't handle the renewed slide in bonds, leading to a decline of over 4% for a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds for the month. Despite this, the economy remains strong, even as 30-year fixed rate mortgages approach 7%, reminiscent of the worst of the bond market hit in 2022. 

One of the ETF holdings in our Conservative portfolio, the NightShares 2000 ETF (NIVM), was liquidated last week. For now, we're shifting the 5% allocation to cash via an ETF specializing in 6-month T-bills. This means we're transitioning from a no-yield cash position to an actual cash-like fund with a much higher yield. 

Considering our heavy exposure to value stocks and bonds, we're surprised to be at least in the ballpark of the Vanguard benchmark total global portfolio fund. This is despite the tech and large-cap growth market quickly outpacing us.

This year has been marked by turbulence in the banking sector. The total assets of failed banks already exceed the inflation-adjusted assets of the banks that failed in 2008 during the financial crisis. These stark figures suggest we are likely to surpass the total assets of all the banks that collapsed during the 2008 crisis, which saw elevated failures through 2012 due to massive losses from aggressive real estate lending during a substantial housing bubble.