Blog

03 May 2013

Posted at 12:16h in The Friday Brief by
There was building sentiment in April that we were headed for another spring slowdown. Unfortunately, last Friday's GDP report failed to put those concerns to rest as it showed the economy was growing, but more slowly than anticipated, and not fast enough to create meaningful job growth.  This week the Fed announced no changes in rate targets or current stimulus plans saying the economy was growing "at a moderate pace." But remarkably several usually hawkish (meaning tough on inflation) Fed bank presidents revealed their growing concern over "De"- flation. And just to keep things interesting, today's jobs report stirred the pot further with a surprise on the upside. Today, we'll try to make some sense of it all.

26 Apr 2013

Posted at 11:40h in The Friday Brief by
The objective of the sequester was to build an arbitrary cliff so fearsome that the Congress would never steer us over it. Well as we know, they did, with us in the back seat. What is fascinating though, at least during our descent from the cliff, is the unintended consequences of sequester; as invariably happens when government tries to be clever.

19 Apr 2013

Posted at 00:00h in The Friday Brief by
We are beneficiaries of the wealthiest nation in the world. But no matter how intentional we try to be, we still take for granted the countless common conveniences that were unimaginable or wildly extravagant not so many years ago. And despite our boundless resources, education systems, capital, enabling technologies, and the conveniences that make them all work for us, seems we are able to find precious little time to pursue our highest and our best purposes.

12 Apr 2013

Posted at 13:11h in The Friday Brief by
The stock market has been on a tear this week, making new highs while defying negative trending economic news and continued impasse in Washington on vital fiscal policies. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% yesterday to close at a record 1,593.37. It reversed this morning on news that retail sales for March came in well below expectations and that the weakness was broad based.

05 Apr 2013

Posted at 13:22h in The Friday Brief by
Stocks for the week are down between 1.8% and 2.2% according to the S&P 500 and the Broad US Market respectively. Most of the decline comes today on the disappointing news that US employers added only 88,000 jobs in March, the slowest pace in nine months. Economists were expecting an increase of 200,000 workers.

29 Mar 2013

Posted at 16:37h in The Friday Brief by
Why do we Christians call today Good Friday? On this day the “Light of the World” was extinguished. Jesus Christ hung on a cross for six torturous hours and died at the ninth hour or about 3:00. His followers hid themselves in fear of instant death at the hands of crowds that had been whipped up against them by the rulers of the day.

22 Mar 2013

Posted at 12:05h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by
One of the most challenging issues we face as investors is the temptation to change, or worse, abandon our carefully reasoned investment plans for perceived threats or opportunities. In these instances we wonder whether we should apply the brakes or step on the accelerator. It seems only as a last resort do we consider sticking with our carefully laid-out investment plan, ignoring the temptations of the day.

15 Mar 2013

Posted at 13:16h in The Friday Brief by
The topic of new stock highs continues to dominate conversations these days. Some argue the economy simply doesn't support the market while others are convinced that the concurrent improvement in stocks and economic indicators portends better times ahead. The S&P 500 (pictured below) is now up 9.1% for the year, having increased 2.7% for the month so far. The index is just a few points away from its all-time highs. Once crossed it will join the company of other indexes exploring new heights like the Dow Jones Industrials and the Wilshire 5000.

08 Mar 2013

Posted at 17:27h in The Friday Brief by
Today's jobs report is lifting stocks to new heights. The Dow Jones Industrial Index crossed its historic high on March 5th and is now 200 points, or 1.4% beyond its high last reached in October of 2007. The total US Stock market as measured by the Vanguard Total Market Index is 2.3% above its October record and crossed that mark on February 8th. The S&P 500 has just under 2% to go before it makes a new high.

01 Mar 2013

Posted at 13:09h in The Friday Brief by
Perhaps you know the saying, 'if March comes in like a lion, it will go out as a lamb.' As the Washington tragedy continues with its latest act entitled 'Sequestration', the audience seems increasingly disinterested by the day. Stocks are up and life goes on as usual.