Market Commentary | Oct 08, 2026
3Q2026 Market Commentary - The Convergence
Michael J. AroestyCFP®
CFP®
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it"
- Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It
Norman Maclean's novella A River Runs Through It had a profound impact on me growing up. I first met the story through Robert Redford's 1992 film, and again in a high school American Literature course. I was captivated by this portrait of Montana between the wars, a world of youth, innocence, and freedom before the realities of age and risk creep into one's consciousness.
My dad shared my affinity for the story. He dreamed of taking his boys to the rivers of Montana to learn the timeless lessons those waters teach: patience, acceptance, and humility. Unfortunately, like so many fanciful dreams, the trip to those rugged mountains and winding rivers never materialized. But as many of you know, my family recently moved to the mountains of Colorado, which gave me the chance to revive that dream with my own family. Shortly after moving in, the four of us marched into the Gold Medal waters of the Fryingpan River in brand-new waders, fly rods in hand. It went about as well as you'd guess.
A few short casts gave me the confidence to try longer ones as I reached for the calm pools where the trout were supposedly waiting. Several hours of arm-waving yielded no fish, but plenty of tangled lines and lost flies. Frustrated, I spent most of the afternoon simply watching the sun shimmer off the water as it twisted around the boulders of the riverbed.
The river doesn't wait for the fisherman. It keeps moving, over and around rocks that have sat there longer than any of us can remember, reshaping the bottom while the surface looks unchanged. Our world is moving faster, too. Can one still find a moment of stillness? Is there still a place for an old fisherman? I hope so. But the first lesson of the river, and of markets, is that the water you see is not always the water that's moving.
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Michael J. Aroesty
CFP®