SaratogaRIM Blog Posts
Latticework Series
By Kevin Tanner
In our 2026 Q2 Report, we published the first two of a short series of essays: The Song Remains the Same and The Neuroscience of the Sirens’ Song. Inspired by the late Charlie Munger's concept of a latticework of mental models, each essay within our Latticework Series examines the financial world around us today through a different analytical lens. Most market commentary – including much of our own – naturally emphasizes a macroeconomic perspective. Inflation, interest rates, fiscal policy, geopolitics, and economic growth are always important. Yet no single discipline can fully explain financial markets.
The objective isn’t to replace the macro perspective, but to complement it by exploring how behavioral finance, neuroscience, microeconomics, financial statement analysis and accounting, credit analysis, financial theory, and security analysis can each help us better understand the current financial landscape. As always, I also try to place today's events within their broader historical context, because understanding where we are often begins with understanding where we've been. My hope is that, taken together, these essays will provide you with a more complete understanding of the financial world around us.
The most recent essay in our series, Understanding Capital Investment Cycles, examines today’s extraordinary wave of capital investment through the lens of financial statement analysis and accounting. It explores how the economic benefits and costs of major capital investments can appear at very different times in the financial statements – and why understanding those differences is especially important during enormous capital expenditure booms like the one occurring today.
We will continue to publish a new essay every Wednesday, with the finale of the Latticework Series published along with the Q3 Quarterly Letter on Wednesday, October 14th. Some essays are a little longer, while some are shorter, but an average reader should expect each essay to take roughly 20 to 30 minutes to read. I hope you find them both educational and enjoyable.
– Kevin Tanner | Chairman | CEO | Chief Investment Officer
Click the image above to access the ongoing Latticework Series beginning with the most recent essay, or view each post individually below:
Latticework Series Introduction (2026 Q2 Letter)