The Windmill

WESTWOOD VILLAGE ROTARY CLUB

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With no Co-President Rogo in sight, PE Bob Simon took to the podium to run the show. He asked newest member Lucy Tseng to lead the pledge, PP Michael Newman gave the thought of the day, PP Ed Jackson was thanked for greeting and, PP Ed Gauld led the singing of “The Air Force Song”.  Guests were then introduced, and announcements were made.

PE Bob Simon reminded everyone this is the year to “Unite for Good” and, the Rotary’s areas of focus. He then turned the meeting over to Presenter 5, who introduced his financial panel for the day.

Presenter 5 once again chaired the investment advisor’s annual prognostication. He stated that the investment community has changed in the last year. It is now under the guidance of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Long rates have remained higher longer over short-term rates. AI is causing massive uncertainty. As we look into 2026 many questions come to mind:

Geopolitical strife continues in many areas of the world. Deportations are causing alarms throughout the country. Tariffs are undermining costs for businesses. All the above could cause a slowdown in our economy and ensure a bumpy ride throughout 2026. In addition, the FED is under attack, and the executive branch is threatening their independence. The potential new FED chairman Kevin Warsh could also be brought under pressure from the Trump administration increasing the likelihood of even more upheaval in the financial markets. With this as a backdrop, let’s review the results for the past 2025 calendar year.

Stocks recommended last year: Fidelity Select, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm and EOS.

A $10,000.00 investment in each stock would have resulted in an annual increase of 15.1 %.

Gold and Silver have had huge rallies in 2025. Interest rates could remain higher even though two rate cuts are projected for 2026.

Presenter 1 (P1) works for NY Life and sees no change in the 1year and 10-year treasury bills. P1 projects the Dow to increase 10%, S&P 8%, the Nasdaq up 6%. P1 recommended stock is TSM. Taiwan Semiconductor.

Presenter 2 is projecting a revision to the mean, in other words a year where earnings and profits are more tempered, and investors returning to conservative companies with track records with positive cash flow and paying out dividends. Speculative investments could subside in 2026. Since 1929, with dividends reinvested, the market has averaged a 9.8% annual return. However, in the last 5 years the average annualized return has risen to 14.7%. P2 believes the Dow will rise by 12%, the S&P up 8%, and the Nasdaq will increase by 18%. The 1 year to 3% and the 10 years to 3.5%. P2 two stock picks are Nvidia and Google.  

Presenter 3 (P3) works for Wells Fargo; she believes AI is in its infancy and that AI will be transformational in the upcoming years. P3 recommends sticking to a recipe for your investment. P3 sees the Dow at 54,000, S&P at 7,600, and the Nasdaq at 30,000. Presenter 3 stock picks are Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft. P3 feels copper could do well in 2026. P3 sees the 1-year treasury ending at 3.0% and 10 years at 4.25%. 

Presenter 4 (P4) works for Morgan Stanley. P4 projects the Dow closing the year at 50,000, the

S & P at 7,800 and the Nasdaq at 28,000. The 1-year treasury at 3.25% and the 10 years at 4.05%. P4's stock pick Marvel (MRVL) is currently at 74, possibly going as high as 120.

Presenter 5 is self-employed and sees the Dow increasing 12%, the S & P 17%, and the Nasdaq 20%. The 1-year treasury declined 50 basis points, and the 10 years decreased 25 basis points. P5's stock pick is Google for good reason; it owns Waymo, Android, YouTube, Gemini, Google Cloud and Google Search.

Once again, hot off the press stock recommendations for our consideration for 2026. Historically, the data indicates that the second year of a presidential term produces the lowest average stock market returns compared to other years with a 3.3% average gain.

All the companies mentioned are worthy considerations and deserve your own due diligence to determine if they are right for you.

It was its usual fun and informative presentation, and we thank all the members who participated in enlightening us about investing.

PE Bob ended the meeting and thanked everyone for attending.

ANNOUNCEMENTS



• May 15-18th, 2026 is this year's District Conference which is a cruse to Mexico. If you would like to attend, please register on the District website before February 1st, 2026.

FUTURE MEETINGS

• February 19th at Hillel, speaker to be announced later.



• February 26th at Hillel, UCLA Prof. of law Emerita, Carole E. Goldberg who was appointed by Barack Obama to the Indian Law and Order Commission during his term.

WVRC 2025/2026 Leadership Team