Blog

13 Apr 2012 The Tortoise and the Hare

Posted at 16:02h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Today's Brief explores our natural affinity toward pizazz and speed as we select our investment options. We intuitively know that slow and steady will get the job done, but the faster 'get rich quick' options always seem so attractive.

06 Apr 2012 Good Friday

Posted at 14:52h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Jesus Christ was crucified, died, and was buried on the Friday which preceded the original Easter. Why is a day that marks Jesus’ horrible suffering and death on a cross called "good?"

30 Mar 2012 Your Future Called and it Could Use Your Attention

Posted at 15:22h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own and you know what you know And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.

Dr. Seuss

Anyone who can grasp the concept of a future understands the power of goal-setting and planning. We and no one else are responsible for our own lives, yet we spend so little if any of our time directing our lives, with or for any great purpose.

23 Mar 2012 Confessions of an Active Money Manager

Posted at 14:13h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

As I look back to the early years of my career as a financial advisor, I recall being driven by three powerful and distinct forces. The first was necessity. With a wife and three children completely dependent on my commissions, success was not a dream or a goal, it was a necessity.

16 Mar 2012 Confidence

Posted at 15:15h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

What comes to mind when you hear the word confidence? You might think about the assurance of your own ability to accomplish a task or to succeed in some endeavor, great or small. You might also consider it as faith in somebody else; that they will do right or act in a trustworthy manner. Confidence in this light can also be associated with things that act in a predictable or reliable manner. It can mean a secret shared and it can describe the relationship of trust that exists to make sharing the secret possible.

09 Mar 2012 Boomers Take Note

Posted at 10:52h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

The week’s economic numbers continued their trend toward improvement with manufacturing store sales, consumer confidence, and jobs growth all moving ahead. Even Greece looks to end the week on a strong note as arm-twisting forced enough bondholders to swallow losses of more than 100 billion euros ($132 billion) and allow the beleaguered country to move forward with its next phase of debt re-structuring.

02 Mar 2012 Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock

Posted at 10:41h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

It is now two and a half years since the Great Recession officially ended. The 18-month downturn was the longest and most severe since World War II according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit research group which officially calls the beginning and ends of recessions. But things are getting better you say. Why bring up the ugly past? Some economic data have indeed shown improvements, particularly of late. Manufacturing has been a steady stalwart of the recovery. Exports have been generally strong for months, while the much touted automobile industry has made a ‘remarkable’ turnaround domestically. GM regained the lead over Toyota for goodness sake.

24 Feb 2012 Warning: Active Management is Dangerous to Your Wealth

Posted at 10:21h in Briefs about our Process, The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Last week in Measuring Uncertainty I focused on the pitfalls of using performance alone to measure progress toward reaching your financial goals. It’s only natural to use returns because they are the universal language of the financial services industry. And if the language of the industry is returns, then the methodology for producing them is active management; where managers make specific investments with a primary goal of outperforming an investment benchmark index. But with return alone as your guide, you are left to wonder just how effectively your managers are improving your situation relative to your goals, how are they managing your wealth?

17 Feb 2012 Measuring Uncertainty

Posted at 15:01h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

In the investment process there are things which can be controlled; such as expenses, taxes, and under-performing market indices, and there are things that cannot; the uncertainty of markets. It is, however, quite possible to measure uncertainty not only of historical market returns, but also of potential market returns. So why is it important for investors to measure uncertainty and how is it measured?

03 Feb 2012 Recovery Thesis Holding

Posted at 12:00h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

It has been a busy week for news on the economy and most of it has been good. The best comes today with news that unemployment in the US has fallen to a three-year low of 8.3%.Payroll jobs grew 243,000 in January following gains of 203,000 December and a 157,000 rise in November. The averages for workweek and hourly earnings improved which will continue to propel consumer income growth which got a bump first of the week