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.