Bennett Wakenight

Recent Articles

  • The Video Game Industry Has Tripled in The Last 10 Years

    Fresh off the coattails of the 2018 Game Awards, the video game continue to flourish. Steve Grzanich learned about the rapid pace at which the video game industry is growing with Anastasia Staten (Executive Director of The ESA Foundation). In Illinois alone, there are 19 college programs and 90 video related companies that help keep pushing the industry forward.  

  • Associated Bank Market Outlook: 12/10/18

    On December 10th, 2018 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The JOLTS Report for October is released today The Economic Red Book is out tomorrow along with the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index  

  • The Opening Bell 12/10/18: 2018 Is Behind Us – Businesses Should Be Looking Ahead to Q2

    The year is nearly over and 2019 is just around the corner. Steve Grzanich is looking back to review the year and see what we can learn, but Tim Roach (CEO of Lendr) explained why looking ahead to the second quarter should be the focus of a small business instead of looking at the past. Anastasia Staten (Executive Director of The ESA Foundation)then shed some light on the flourishing video game industry that is growing at  multi-billion dollar pace that […]

  • Wintrust Business Lunch 12/7/18: Tipping For Coffee, 2019 Millennial Hiring Trends, & Retail to E-tail

    Tipping at a restaurant can be a socially stressful situation for some, but what if you had the social pressure to tip when getting your morning coffee every day? Jon Hansen filled in for Steve today and Andrea Hanis discussed the new software that could be coming to a cafe near you. Jessica Schaeffer shared what trends employers might be seeing when they hire millennials in 2019, Kaleigh Moore explained how a brick and mortar store might shift to the […]

  • After The Bell: Monthly Jobs Report Still is OK Territory

    Top line numbers surprised jobs report forecasts and it also surprised Steve Grzanich and Paul Nolte (SVP & Sr. Portfolio Manager at Kingsview Management). The two covered the most important takeaways from this month’s report, including the weather that played a factor, and how the healthcare industry continuing to perform at a strong rate.  

  • Associated Bank Market Outlook: 12/7/18

    On December 7th, 2018 Steve Grzanich shares today’s potential market drivers: The Jobs Report is out today with expectations between 180,000-190,000 jobs added last month The Consumer Sentiment numbers are out today October Wholes Sale Trade Inventories are expected to grow and the EIA Natural Gas report is out today

  • The Opening Bell 12/7/18: What’s Next For U.S. & China’s Trade Relationship?

    Things are getting complicated between the US and China and our trade relations, but ti doesn’t help that Wall Street has had one of the worst weeks in the last few months. Steve Grzanich and Paul Nolte (SVP & Sr. Portfolio Manager at Kingsview Asset Management) touched on how the arrest of a powerful Chinese executive and a potentially soft jobs report today might start to look bleak. Brian Sumers (Aviation Business Editor at Skift.com) then shared the new route […]

  • Is Southwest Airlines Encroaching on Hawaiian Airlines?

    Hawaii has typically been a niche market for Hawaiian Airlines, but Southwest Airlines is looking to get in on the market. Steve Grzanich learned from Brian Sumers (Aviation Business Editor at Skift.com) that Southwest Airlines is gearing up to provide service to Hawaii starting in early 2019 which could put Hawaii Airlines in a tight spot after a difficult third quarter earnings report.  

  • Photography by: ©Michael B. Lloyd

    Bill Geiger on Volatility Impacting Retirement Plans

    The market had two of the worst back-to-back days of the year this week and that will leave plenty of Americans wondering if that will impact their chances of retiring on time. Steve Bertrand discussed Bill Geiger (Geiger Wealth Management) to talk about the strategy around retiring during volatile times and you don’t have to get used to it as the new normal.  

  • Wintrust Business Lunch 12/6/18: Lyft Preparing For an IPO, Volatility Through Retirement, & Chicago’s 2019 Real Estate Forecast

    Big news came from the tech world earlier today as Rochelle Garner told Steve Bertrand that Lyft is gearing up for an IPO, but also discussing how Ring video doorbells could be making us more paranoid than we should be. Bill Geiger discussed the strategy around preparing for retirement in volatile times, and Dennis Rodkin stopped by the studio to catch up with Steve and shared some of the latest real estate stories and explained why Chicago is still at […]