Category Archives: Investing
Market Recap
Weekly Recap Something of a mixed week in the markets with growth/tech doing well while small and value underperformed. The major economic news obviously was the first take on second quarter GDP. As expected – it stunk!! The size of the U.S. economy between March and June shrunk by -32.9% (blue line below) at an annualized rate. The change year-over-year was -9.5% (red line below). This is one for…
Continue reading >>
Market Recap
Weekly Recap The equity markets continue to churn in a range between 3,000 and 3250 on the S&P 500. The rapid advance in April and May ground to a halt as infection rates started to trend up in June. On the economic front the general theme is a moderation in the V-like bounce off the March lows. For example, the latest manufacturing reports from around the country shows that this sector is…
Continue reading >>
Market Recap
Weekly Recap I’m probably not alone thinking that 2020 is starting to feel like the longest year ever. We are only just approaching the half-way point. With two more trading days to go in the quarter, the markets seem to be closing on a soft note. Global equities dipped this week on renewed fears about 1) rising COVID infection rates in the U.S., and 2) the possibility of more trade battles heading into…
Continue reading >>
Market Recap
Weekly Recap This marked the third consecutive week of a +3% or greater advance for the S&P 500, leaving many scratching their heads about the disconnect between the markets and the economy. Furthermore, over the last few trading days we’ve seen the economic sensitive sectors such as small-cap and value stocks take the lead from growth stocks. Even airlines have taken off, so to speak, and interest rates have hooked higher on better…
Continue reading >>
Volatility Through A Different Lens
“Every time I get accustomed to low volatility, like we were towards the end of the Greenspan era, and we think we have all the levers under the control… something erupts to remind us that the idea that anybody is in control of everything is hubris.” -Lloyd Blankfein, ex-CEO Goldman Sachs The point Blankfein is making here is that there are black swan type of events that are impossible to plan for and…
Continue reading >>
Energy’s Disappearing Act
In coming up with a topic to write about, I did what I usually do – read research reports, white papers, news reports, investor letters etc. Everything, and I mean everything, is somehow or another related to this virus. While that is completely understandable, I thought it would be nice to talk about something unrelated to COVID-19. Yesterday I was talking to our Chief Investment Officer Charles Blankley and he brought up a topic…
Continue reading >>
Through the Looking Glass
Over the past week, my five-year-old daughter and I have been reading through Lewis Carol’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” We just started chapter five – where Alice stumbles upon the caterpillar who asks “Who are you?.” Alice replies: “ I–I hardly know, sir, just at present– at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then.” This line…
Continue reading >>
Good Time To Revisit How an ETF Works
Bull and bear markets are funny things. When the markets are soaring, no one seems to ask many questions and if they do, they don’t dig too deep. During big downturns, everyone is asking questions and trying to figure out how various financial instruments actually work. Given all the chaos recently, we thought it would be a good time to revisit how ETFs work and discuss how volatility exposes some unique characteristics of this particular…
Continue reading >>
Investing in ETFs: Are You Really Making A Passive Choice?
We’ve written in the past on how making assumptions in ETF investing can lead to some interesting surprises (see here and here). There are such a huge number of ETFs available to U.S. investors that its easy to get overwhelmed when trying do decide where to invest your money. The chart above shows that of the roughly 2,400 ETFs available in the U.S., nearly half (46%) are less than 5 years old! With…
Continue reading >>
A Better Investment Experience (Part 2)
In part 1 of “A Better Investment Experience”, we discussed the importance of embracing market pricing and avoiding chasing performance. In part 2 of this series, we’ll focus on managing the emotions of investing and the characteristics of a sound investment plan. Managing the Emotions of Investing Emotions play a major role in our investment (and life) related decision making. A downside of these emotions is that they often cause us to think…
Continue reading >>