Many times, I sit down and write these letters with a clear understanding of what items I want to cover because they are newsworthy or something remarkable has happened. This is not one of those times. Compared to last year at this time, this letter would be about as boring as they get. No massive … Read More
COVID-19 vaccine prospects should make 2021 a year of Global Economic Recovery. As I sit here in my home office in early January, thinking about topics to add to this 2020 review and quarterly letter, my monitor is a constant reminder of how our world has changed, as I would normally be writing this letter … Read More
Happy campaign season! I hope everyone is as tired of political ads as I am, and if you are not, good news, there’s one more week! I rarely and with good reason, discuss politics in these letters. However, I recently wrote a piece comparing the two tax plans from the major presidential nominees and the … Read More
This last quarter saw violent fluctuations in the capital markets, which have shaken the very core of retail investing for private clients as well as created massive stimulus actions by the federal government. Good thing we didn’t have anything else going on at the time! Oh, wait. COVID-19 has blanketed our country for a second … Read More
A computer programmer named David Cook started a company in Dallas, Texas in 1985. After two years, Cook sold the company Blockbuster for $18.5 million, missing one of the most impractical run-ups in history. By 1992, this once small retail shop was sold again for $8.4 billion. By the late 90s, Cook’s bright idea for … Read More
Never in my career have I experienced such a poorly accepted bull market. As I sit here in my Pasadena office writing this letter, I am amazed at the market returns for the year. US Markets are up 23.12% with US growth outpacing value 25.77% to 19.04%. Yet, people are still finding reasons to be … Read More
The US-China Trade Deal, Student Loan Debt, and Other News from the Last Quarter. The second quarter of 2019 ended with a 3.8% gain of the S&P 500, 2.59% for DJIA and 3.58% Nasdaq. This year, the S&P500 has returned 17.35% with the DJIA +14.03% and Nasdaq +20.66%.7,8,9 On my screen, almost everything has made … Read More
As we look toward the summer and seasonal change, there is much to reflect on from this last quarter. Losses Turned into Gains The first quarter S&P price return was 13.07%, the best first quarter since 1998, which followed one of the worst Decembers to date after a mediocre equity market in 2018. Many investors … Read More
