“Gravity is a habit that is hard to shake off.” -Terry Pratchett 2019 came in like a lion and went out like a lamb. This time last January, investors were worrying about a significant market swoon driven by fears of higher interest rates, the impact of quantitative tightening as the Fed began unwinding its […]
Category: newsletter
Client Investment Letter October 2019
“Fundamentals make the market.” – T. Boone Pickens The third quarter is now behind us. Fall is here and with it, cooler weather, football, the State Fair, and memories of delightful summer travel recently completed. Which got us thinking about the difference between a trip and a journey. A trip generally refers to […]
Client Investment Letter July 2019
“The heart of man is made to reconcile the most glaring contradictions.” – David Hume If there is one concept that defines the markets right now it is that of cognitive dissonance. For those who aren’t psychologists, Merriam-Webster aptly describes cognitive dissonance as a “psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously.” […]
Client Investment Letter April 2019
Since the late 1970s, the Federal Reserve has operated under a directive from Congress to promote maximum employment and price stability, commonly referred to as the Fed’s “dual mandate.” Price stability, in this sense, relates to a stated inflation-rate target of 2%. With inflation elusive and stocks nosediving in the final months of 2018, perhaps […]
Client Investment Letter January 2019
“The snow doesn’t give a soft white damn whom it touches.” — E.E. Cummings. Like a blizzard that speeds across the plains stranding the unsuspecting traveler, December brought extremely tumultuous weather in the markets. In fact, it was the worst December since 1931 for the broad U.S. equity market indices. Thankfully, your portfolio has been […]
Client Investment Letter October 2018
U.S. stocks continued their levitation act during the third quarter, driving the major indices to new all-time highs in both price and valuation. Your portfolio participated in kind and had a nice quarter, too. Risk appetite is as intense as ever, as seen in tight corporate bond spreads despite deteriorating credit quality, last year’s crypto […]
Client Investment Letter June 2018
“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby Summer heat has descended upon us and so, for many, it is time to head to the beach or mountains and curl up with a good work […]
Client Investment Letter March 2018
“What investors then need…is an ability to both disregard mob fears or enthusiasms and to focus on a few simple fundamentals. A willingness to look unimaginative for a sustained period – or even to look foolish – is also essential.” – Warren Buffett The new year started off a lot like the old, with rampant […]
Client Investment Letter January 2018
“I doubt if you can have a truly wild party without liquor.”– Carl Sandburg 2017 was a year of celebration for financial markets. The S&P rose every single month of the year for the first time in history. Asset prices globally, from old world properties to newfangled cryptocurrencies, soared, and generally the riskier the asset, […]
Client Investment Letter October 2017
“Habit rules the unreflecting herd.” – William Wordsworth Perhaps simply out of habit, risk-on trades continued in the third quarter as the herd pushed assets to new highs. Speculative fervor, both man-made and computer generated, drove everything from small cap stocks to junk bonds, cryptocurrencies, real estate and even thoroughbred horses. The rapid growth of […]
